14 Facts About Tadahiro Nomura

Tadahiro Nomura is the only judoka in the world who has won three individual Olympic gold medals in a row, all in the extra lightweight division.

Tadahiro Nomura's grandfather was a local judo instructor, and his father was the coach of Shinji Hosokawa, who won a gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Tadahiro Nomura began learning judo at his grandfather's dojo at age six.

Tadahiro Nomura was successful in several local and national level competitions during high school and junior-high school, and entered Tenri University in 1993.

Tadahiro Nomura won the All-Japan Selected judo championships for his weight class in April, 1996, to gain a spot on the Japanese olympic team for the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta, United States.

Tadahiro Nomura swept the All-Japan Selected judo championships again in 1997, and won a gold medal at the 1997 World Judo Championships in Paris to reinforce his position as the premier competitor at his weight class.

Tadahiro Nomura did not participate in competitions for the rest of the year to recover from this injury and to complete his degree in health education.

Tadahiro Nomura made his return at the All-Japan Selected judo championships in 2000, winning the competition for the third time to gain a second trip to the olympics.

Tadahiro Nomura won the All-Japan Selected judo championships for the first time in three years in April, 2003 to advance to the 2003 World Judo Championships where he made a disappointing bronze medal finish.

Tadahiro Nomura won the Japanese nationals for the second consecutive year in April, 2004, which enabled him to seek an unprecedented third consecutive olympic gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

Tadahiro Nomura did not participate in judo competitions after the 2004 olympic final, but on January 10,2006, he announced his intention to seek a fourth consecutive gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Tadahiro Nomura made his return with a win at an international tournament held in the Czech Republic, and won the All-Japan Selected judo championships for the sixth time in 2007.

Tadahiro Nomura announced he would continue his career and intended to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Tadahiro Nomura presented an honorary black belt to action star Keanu Reeves for his intense study and performance of judo in the movie franchise John Wick.