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| Event type

Half-Middleweight (≤78 kilograms), Men

Date23 July 1996
StatusOlympic
LocationGeorgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia (Hall H)
Participants34 from 34 countries
FormatTwo single-elimination pools, with winner of each pool advanced to the final. All judoka losing to the finalists in each pool advanced to repêchage pools, with the winners of the repêchage pools earning bronze medals.

Japan had brought a dominant team to Atlanta, and the favorite in this class was also a Japanese, Toshihiko Koga, the 1995 World Champion in this class. Koga had been Olympic Champion in 1992 in lightweight, and was twice World Champion in the lightweight class (1989, 1991). Koga had briefly retired after the 1992 Olympics but came back for the 1995 Worlds. He had won five consecutive Kodakan Cups and six consecutive All-Japan championships. Koga made it to the final easily, where he faced France’s Djamel Bouras, whose previous biggest accomplishment was a bronze at the 1995 Worlds. The final was a defensive battle, with Koga leading until he was penalized for passivity with only 12 seconds remaining. This brought the match to hantei, with all three judges giving the decision to Bouras for the gold medal. Bouras would win a silver medal at the 1997 Worlds, while Koga would continue to compete thru 2000, but was never again a major factor at internationals.

PosCompetitor(s)NOC
1Djamel BourasFRAGold
2Toshihiko KogaJPNSilver
=3Jo In-CheolKORBronze
=3Soso Lip'art'elianiGEOBronze
=5Stefan DottGER
=5Gastón GarcíaARG
=7Flávio CantoBRA
=7Iraklı UznadzeTUR
=9Vladimir ShmakovUZB
=9Lo Yu-WeiTPE
=9Konstantin SavchishkinRUS
=9Johan LaatsBEL
=13Oleg CrețulMDA
=13Bronisław WołkowiczPOL
=13Yuan ChaoCHN
=13Ricky DixonNCA
=17Lyes CherifiALG
=17Thierry VatricanMON
=17Patrick KlasNED
=17Jason MorrisUSA
=21Colin MorganCAN
=21Alexandru CiupeROU
=21Suleman MusaNGR
=21Adler VolmarHAI
=21Ruslan SeilkhanovKAZ
=21Gabor SzaboAUS
=21Arsen GevorgyanARM
=21José FigueroaPUR
=21Adil Bel GaidMAR
=21Karen BalaianUKR
=21Shay-Oren SmadjaISR
=21Dragoljub RadulovićSCG
=33Patrick ReiterAUT
=33Graeme RandallGBR

Pool A (23 July 1996)

Round One (23 July 1996)

Match #1 Vladimir ShmakovUZB
Ippon/O-soto-gari (1:31)
Patrick ReiterAUT

Round Two (23 July 1996)

Match #1 Jo In-CheolKOR
Ippon/Ushiro-kesa-gatame (3:55)
Oleg CrețulMDA
Match #2 Soso Lip'art'elianiGEO
Ippon/Ko-soto-gake (3:03)
Colin MorganCAN
Match #3 Vladimir ShmakovUZB
Ippon/Tai-otoshisae-komi-waza (0:49)
Alexandru CiupeROU
Match #4 Lyes CherifiALG
Ippon/Kata-gatame (2:12)
Suleman MusaNGR
Match #5 Flávio CantoBRA
Ippon/Juji-gatame (1:39)
Adler VolmarHAI
Match #6 Thierry VatricanMON
Waza-ari-wasete Ippon/Kusure-yoko-shiho-gatame (3:41)
Ruslan SeilkhanovKAZ
Match #7 Bronisław WołkowiczPOL
Ippon/Kusure-yoko-shiho-gatame (5:00)
Gabor SzaboAUS
Match #8 Toshihiko KogaJPN
Waza-ari/Ura-nage (5:00)
Lo Yu-WeiTPE

Quarter-Finals (23 July 1996)

Match #1 Jo In-CheolKOR
Ippon/O-goshi (4:02)
Soso Lip'art'elianiGEO
Match #2 Vladimir ShmakovUZB
Ippon/O-soto-gari (0:25)
Lyes CherifiALG
Match #3 Flávio CantoBRA
Ippon/Juji-gatame (1:11)
Thierry VatricanMON
Match #4 Toshihiko KogaJPN
Waza-ari/Ko-soto-gari (5:00)
Bronisław WołkowiczPOL

Semi-Finals (23 July 1996)

Match #1 Jo In-CheolKOR
Ippon/Harai-goshi (2:27)
Vladimir ShmakovUZB
Match #2 Toshihiko KogaJPN
Ippon/Tsuri-komi-goshi (4:02)
Flávio CantoBRA

Final Round (23 July 1996)

Match #1 Toshihiko KogaJPN
Keikoku/Go-Outside-Contest-Area (5:00)
Jo In-CheolKOR

Repêchage (23 July 1996)

Match #1 Soso Lip'art'elianiGEO
Ippon/Kibisu-gaeshi (2:14)
Oleg CrețulMDA
Match #2 Soso Lip'art'elianiGEO
Ippon/Kusure-yoko-shiho-gatame (2:40)
Vladimir ShmakovUZB
Match #3 Lo Yu-WeiTPE
Ippon/Ippon Seoi-nage (0:40)
Bronisław WołkowiczPOL
Match #4 Flávio CantoBRA
Ippon/Juji-gatame (1:54)
Lo Yu-WeiTPE
Match #5 Soso Lip'art'elianiGEO
Ippon/Uchi-mata (3:53)
Flávio CantoBRA
Match 3/4 Soso Lip'art'elianiGEO
Ippon/Kata-garami (0:18)
Stefan DottGER

Pool B (23 July 1996)

Round One (23 July 1996)

Match #1 Shay-Oren SmadjaISR
Ippon/Ko-soto-gake (3:13)
Graeme RandallGBR

Round Two (23 July 1996)

Match #1 Djamel BourasFRA
Shido/False-Attack (5:00)
Konstantin SavchishkinRUS
Match #2 Yuan ChaoCHN
Ippon/O-soto-gari (3:02)
Arsen GevorgyanARM
Match #3 Patrick KlasNED
Yuko/Okuri-ashi-barai (5:00)
José FigueroaPUR
Match #4 Gastón GarcíaARG
Ippon/Ura-nage (1:58)
Adil Bel GaidMAR
Match #5 Jason MorrisUSA
Koka/O-soto-otoshi (5:00)
Karen BalaianUKR
Match #6 Iraklı UznadzeTUR
Koka/O-uchi-gari (5:00)
Shay-Oren SmadjaISR
Match #7 Stefan DottGER
Ippon/Juji-gatame (1:03)
Ricky DixonNCA
Match #8 Johan LaatsBEL
Ippon/Tomoe-nage-goshi (0:44)
Dragoljub RadulovićSCG

Quarter-Finals (23 July 1996)

Match #1 Djamel BourasFRA
Chui/Non-Combativity (5:00)
Yuan ChaoCHN
Match #2 Gastón GarcíaARG
Ippon/Yoko-guruma (2:59)
Patrick KlasNED
Match #3 Iraklı UznadzeTUR
Waza-ari/Harai-goshi (5:00)
Jason MorrisUSA
Match #4 Stefan DottGER
Ippon/Sode-tsuri-komi-goshi (2:26)
Johan LaatsBEL

Semi-Finals (23 July 1996)

Match #1 Djamel BourasFRA
Ippon/O-soto-gari (1:06)
Gastón GarcíaARG
Match #2 Stefan DottGER
Ippon/Ko-uchi-gari (1:17)
Iraklı UznadzeTUR

Final Round (23 July 1996)

Match #1 Djamel BourasFRA
Keikoku/Non-Combativity (5:00)
Stefan DottGER

Repêchage (23 July 1996)

Match #1 Konstantin SavchishkinRUS
Ippon/Ippon Seoi-nage (3:06)
Yuan ChaoCHN
Match #2 Gastón GarcíaARG
Waza-ari/Kata-garami (5:00)
Konstantin SavchishkinRUS
Match #3 Johan LaatsBEL
Ippon/O-uchi-gari (1:02)
Ricky DixonNCA
Match #4 Iraklı UznadzeTUR
Ippon/Sasae-tsuri-komi-ashi (0:17)
Johan LaatsBEL
Match #5 Gastón GarcíaARG
Ippon/Sasae-tsuri-komi-ashi (0:17)
Iraklı UznadzeTUR
Match 3/4 Jo In-CheolKOR
Ippon/O-soto-gari (1:22)
Gastón GarcíaARG

Final Round (23 July 1996)

Match 1/2 Djamel BourasFRA
Yusei-gachi (5:00)
Toshihiko KogaJPN