Yasuhiro Yamashita
Retired unbeaten after 203 straight wins
- Born
- June 1, 1957, Yabe, Kumamoto, Japan
- Nationality
Japan- Height
- 180 cm (5′11″)
- Stance
- Left
- Style
- Throw-and-pin heavyweight
- Weight
- +95 kg, Open
- Active
- 1976–1985
- Status
- Retired · age 69
The record
203 straight winsWon 203 consecutive matches (with 7 draws) from October 1977 to his retirement in 1985; never lost to a non-Japanese opponent.
1984 Olympic open-category gold, 4 world titles
The story
asuhiro Yamashita started judo in primary school in Kumamoto and became the most feared heavyweight of his era. At 19 he was the youngest winner of the open-weight All-Japan Championships, a title he then held for nine straight years. From October 1977 to his retirement in 1985 he won 203 consecutive matches, drawing seven and losing none. Japan's boycott cost him the 1980 Olympics, but he won four world titles and then the 1984 open-category gold in Los Angeles, beating Egypt's Mohamed Ali Rashwan in the final despite a torn right calf. Left-handed and around 127 kg, he could finish with osoto gari, ouchi gari or uchi mata, and was just as dangerous with holds and chokes on the ground. He later became president of the Japanese Olympic Committee.
Tap a technique with an arrow to learn how it works.
- Olympic champion, open category (1984)
- World champion, +95 kg (1979, 1981, 1983)
- World champion, open category (1981)
- All-Japan champion (9 straight, 1977–1985)
- People's Honour Award, Japan (1984)
- IJF Hall of Fame (2015)
- Olympic Order in silver (2025)
Defining matches
- 1980DRAWvs Sumio Endo (All-Japan final; his fibula was broken by kani basami, a move later banned)
- 1984WINvs Laurent Del Colombo (Los Angeles Olympic semi-final; thrown early, won with yoko-shiho-gatame)
- 1984WINvs Mohamed Ali Rashwan (Los Angeles Olympic open final, fought on a torn calf)
- 1985WINvs Hitoshi Saito (All-Japan final, ninth straight title in his last match)
Build a throw-to-pin habit: as your partner lands from osoto gari or uchi mata, follow straight into kesa-gatame or yoko-shiho-gatame so a half-score becomes a finish. Yamashita scored from both positions, so drill the transition until it is one movement.
