Keiji Suzuki
 Keiji (right) at final of All-Japan Judo Championships | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Japan |
| Born | June 3, 1980 Jōsō, Ibaraki, Japan |
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 105 kg (231 lb; 16.5 st) |
| Kumite | Left |
| Dan | 6th |
| Alma mater | Kokushikan University |
| Position | Heisei Kanzai |
| Coach(es) | Hitoshi Saito |
show
Medal record | |
Keiji Suzuki (鈴木桂治, Suzuki Keiji, born June 3, 1980 in Jōsō, Ibaraki)[1] is a Japanese judoka.
He won the Olympic gold medal in the heavyweight (+100 kg) division in the 2004. He is also a two-time world champion.
He is noted for being a remarkably small judoka in the heavyweight division; he also regularly competes in the light-heavyweight (-100 kg) class.
Suzuki is known as having some of the best ashi waza of all heavyweights.
Suzuki was eliminated in the first round of the 2010 world Judo championship in Yoyogi, Japan via ippon by Janusz Wojnarowicz of Poland.[2]
Suzuki dislocated his shoulder in the semi-finals of the 2012 All-Japan Judo Championships and subsequently announced his retirement as he was not selected to represent Japan at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Suzuki was appointed Men's Heavyweight Coach for the Japanese team by the new head coach, his friend and former rival Kosei Inoue.
References[]
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Keiji Suzuki". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.
- ^ Kyodo News, "Ex-champ Suzuki falls at first hurdle", Japan Times, 10 September 2010, p. 11.
External links[]
Media related to Keiji Suzuki at Wikimedia Commons- at JudoInside
- Competition videos of Keiji Suzuki at Judovision
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- 1980 births
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- Japanese male judoka
- Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics
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- Olympic judoka of Japan
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- Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
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