Nicolas Gill
Four-time Olympian who went on to run Canadian judo
- Born
- April 24, 1972, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- Nationality
Canada- Height
- 185 cm (6′1″)
- Style
- Fast-throwing technician
- Weight
- 86 kg, 100 kg
- Active
- 1990–2004
- Status
- Retired · age 54
The medals
Olympic silver 2000 and bronze 1992, 3 world medals
The story
icolas Gill took up judo after watching his older brother compete and won the first of his Canadian youth titles at 14. In 1990 he became national champion and Pan American champion at 86 kg, and at Barcelona in 1992 he upset Japan's favourite, Hirotaka Okada, before losing to eventual champion Waldemar Legień and then winning bronze. A year later he took world silver at home in Hamilton. He moved up to 100 kg in 1997, came back from knee surgery and reached the Olympic final in Sydney in 2000, beating Stéphane Traineau before losing to Japan's Kosei Inoue. He won 10 national titles, carried Canada's flag in Athens in 2004 and then turned to coaching, later becoming Judo Canada's high performance director and CEO.
Tap a technique with an arrow to learn how it works.
- Olympic silver medallist, 100 kg (2000)
- Olympic bronze medallist, 86 kg (1992)
- World silver medallist, 86 kg (1993)
- Pan American Games champion (1995, 1999)
- Commonwealth Games champion, 100 kg (2002)
- Canadian champion ×10
- IJF Hall of Fame (2018)
- Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (2015)
- Canada's flag bearer, 2004 Athens Olympics
Defining matches
- 1992WINvs Hirotaka Okada (Barcelona Olympic pool semifinal, waza-ari)
- 1992LOSSvs Waldemar Legień (Barcelona Olympic pool final, yuko)
- 1993LOSSvs Yoshio Nakamura (World final, Hamilton)
- 2000WINvs Stéphane Traineau (Sydney Olympic semifinal)
- 2000LOSSvs Kosei Inoue (Sydney Olympic final, ippon)
Canada's Sports Hall of Fame singles out Gill's lightning-fast uchi mata and nearly unstoppable osoto gari. Build the same pair from one grip, a forward throw and a backward throw, so an opponent who stiffens against one steps straight into the other.
1985–2000
