Toshihiko Koga
Owner of judo's most admired ippon seoi nage
- Born
- November 21, 1967, Kitashigeyasu, Saga, Japan
- Died
- March 24, 2021 (aged 53)
- Nationality
Japan- Height
- 169 cm (5′7″)
- Style
- Ippon seoi nage master
- Weight
- 71 kg, 78 kg
- Active
- 1985–2000
The medals
1992 Olympic gold, 1996 silver, 3 world titles
The story
oshihiko Koga moved from Saga to Tokyo as a junior high student to train at the Kodogakusha school, and his spectacular ippon seoi nage, always thrown for ippon, earned him the nickname 'Heisei no Sanshiro'. After a world bronze in 1987 and an early exit at the 1988 Olympics, he won world titles at 71 kg in 1989 and 1991. During preparations for the 1992 Barcelona Games he badly injured his knee in practice with Hidehiko Yoshida, yet he still won gold, beating Hungary's Bertalan Hajtós in the final. He returned to win the 1995 world title at 78 kg and took Olympic silver in Atlanta in 1996. As a coach he founded the Koga Juku, whose pupil Ayumi Tanimoto became Olympic champion. He died of cancer in 2021, aged 53.
Tap a technique with an arrow to learn how it works.
- Olympic champion, 71 kg (1992)
- World champion, 71 kg (1989, 1991)
- World champion, 78 kg (1995)
- World junior champion, 71 kg (1986)
- Kodokan 9th dan (2021)
- JOC Sports Award (1992)
Defining matches
- 1989WINvs Mike Swain (World Championships 71 kg final, Belgrade)
- 1991WINvs Joaquín Ruiz (World Championships 71 kg final, Barcelona)
- 1992WINvs Bertalan Hajtós (Barcelona Olympic 71 kg final, on an injured knee)
- 1995WINvs Shay-Oren Smadja (World Championships 78 kg final, Chiba)
- 1996LOSSvs Djamel Bouras (Atlanta Olympic 78 kg final)
Koga's ippon seoi nage relied on turning in fast and low with the elbow driving up into the opponent's armpit, so much bigger players still went over. Drill the entry from movement, especially as the opponent steps forward, and aim to finish for ippon rather than a partial score.
