Wim Ruska
Two golds at one Olympics, a first in judo
- Born
- August 29, 1940, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Died
- February 14, 2015 (aged 74)
- Nationality
Netherlands- Height
- 189 cm (6′2″)
- Style
- Powerful heavyweight
- Weight
- +93 kg, Open
- Active
- 1965–1972
The medals
2 Olympic golds at Munich 1972, 2 world titles
The story
im Ruska came to judo late, starting at 20 in the Dutch navy, and later trained in Japan and under Jon Bluming in the Netherlands. Unusually muscular for a heavyweight at 1.89 m and about 110 kg, he won world titles in 1967 and 1971 and seven European crowns. At the 1972 Munich Olympics he took the heavyweight gold, beating Klaus Glahn in the final, then entered the open category, lost a pool match to Vitali Kuznetsov, came back through the repechage and pinned Kuznetsov in the final. He was the first judoka to win two golds at one Games. He also won Dutch titles in wrestling and sambo, and after retiring he worked as a professional wrestler in Japan and the United States.
Tap a technique with an arrow to learn how it works.
- Olympic champion, +93 kg and open category (1972)
- World champion, +93 kg (1967, 1971)
- European champion (7 titles, 1966–1972)
- Dutch national champion (10 titles)
- IJF Hall of Fame (2013)
Defining matches
- 1972WINvs Motoki Nishimura (Munich Olympic +93 kg semi-final)
- 1972WINvs Klaus Glahn (Munich Olympic +93 kg final)
- 1972LOSSvs Vitali Kuznetsov (Munich Olympic open pool, te guruma)
- 1972WINvs Vitali Kuznetsov (Munich Olympic open final, yoko-shiho-gatame)
- 1976WINvs Ivan Gomes (pro-wrestling bout in Rio that became a real fight; Gomes counted out)
Ruska lost to Kuznetsov's te guruma standing, then beat him in the final by taking the match to the ground and holding him with yoko-shiho-gatame. When an opponent has your number on the feet, change the phase of the fight and win where they are weaker.
