Nakamura, Kenzo

Born in the family of a grocery store owner in 1973. From the age of 5, he began to attend judo classes with his older brothers. In 1984, impressed by the victory of Yasuhiro Yamashita at the Olympic Games, he began to engage with great zeal.

In 1993, he won the bronze medal of the Japanese Championship, also took third place in the Sungkop Tournament in Seoul and won the Kodokan Cup in Tokyo. In 1994, he repeated the result at the Japanese Championship, also the third remained at the Tournoi de Paris and Matsutaro Shoriki tournaments and won the Belgian Open. In 1995, he climbed to second place in the Japanese championship, won silver medals in the Czech Cup and Series A tournament in Budapest, after which a series of victories began: at the 1995 Universiade , Asian Championship, Kodokan Cup , in 1996 at the Tournoi tournament de Paris and at the championship of Japan.

He, along with his older brothers, was selected to attend the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta . In his category, up to 71 kilograms, 35 judokas fought. The wrestler who won in all the bouts of the group reached the final, where he met with a wrestler from another group. The losers to the finalists, starting from the quarter finals, met in “comforting” fights, according to the results of which bronze medalists were determined.

The young Japanese wrestler finished the first three meetings ahead of schedule: by throwing from behind, asphyxiating reception (Nakamura was generally distinguished by excellent technique in the stalls and particularly his ability to make strangulation) and pickup. In the semifinals, Nakamura won thanks to several warnings received by the opponent. The final fight became very tense, no one could carry out the evaluated actions, and the Japanese wrestler won only on the basis of the judges' preference. At the same time, Nakamura lost almost the entire battle due to a warning for passive wrestling. But three seconds before the end of the meeting, his opponent received a warning for the prohibited action. As a result, a draw was recorded, and the judges 2–1 gave the victory to Nakamura.

In 1997 he became the world champion; also was second in the championship of Japan and the Games of South Asia. In 1998, he was second at the Tournoi de Paris , second at the Asian Games, became the world champion in the team and the champion of Japan. In 1999, he confirmed the title of the strongest in the country. In 2000, he won the Asian Championship, Japanese Championship, international tournaments in Moscow and Paris.

He participated in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney . In his category, up to 73 kilograms, 36 judokas fought.

This time, Kenzo Nakamura failed to perform at the games. In the quarterfinals, he lost to the Korean wrestler, who managed to hold the front bandwagon with the transition to hold. Nakamura was also defeated in a comforting meeting and remained only ninth.

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Since 2001, he fought in the category of up to 81 kilograms, became the winner of the Tournoi de Paris , remained second in the Japanese Championship, was only fifth in the World Championship and won the Russian President’s Cup. In 2002, he was third in the German World Open and Jigoro Kano tournaments , and then won the Japanese Championship and won the second world title in the individual championship. In 2003, he won the Jigoro Kano and Tournoi de Paris tournaments, remained second in the Japanese Championship, third in the Kodokan Cup and again won the Russian President Cup.

In 2004, he left his sports career.

Since 1992, he studied at Tokai University in Tokyo . Upon completion in 1996, he joined the Asahi Kasei company. Since 2004 he has been working in this company as a team coach; also involved in working with national teams of Japan.

• Kenzo Nakamura - Olympic stats on Sports-Reference.com
• Kenzo Nakamura - profile on judoinside.com