Tadahiro Nomura - Japanese Olympian

Tadahiro Nomura is one of the most famous judo competitors in Japan. He is the only judo competitor in the world, and the first Asian olympian, who has won gold medals at three Olympics in a row.

Tadahiro was born on December 10, 1974 in Nara. His grandfather was a local judo instructor and his father was the coach of Shinji Hosokawa, who won a gold medal at the 1984 L.A. Olympics. His uncle, Toyokazu Nomura, was also a gold medalist at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

He began learning judo at his grandfather's dojo at the age of six. He was successful in several local and national level competitions during high school.

He entered Tenri University in 1993, where he won the All-Japan Selected judo championships for his weight class in April,1996 and three months later he won his first Olympic gold medal in Atlanta.

Then he won his second Olympic gold medal at Sydney in 2000. He became the first -60kg division competitor to win consecutive Olympic gold medals. He won his third consecutive Olympic gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Unfortunately, the news that he had won another Olympic gold medal was overshadowed by Ryoko Tamura's Olympic success in the newspapers, with her Olympic victory, coming on the same day.

My Olympic hero too! Kaori Matsumoto

London Olympics 2012 (Photo credit: Andrea Vascellari)

The judoka, Kaori Matsumoto who had become Japan's first gold medalist at the London Olympics inspired me. I was so astonished when I saw her for the first time just before her semifinals. She showed up with sharp game face. I 've never seen such a fierce look,though she is a young lady. She continued attacking her opponent aggresively throughout the semifinals and she won.

When she turned up at the finals, her eyes were full of fight and she gave her opponent a fierce look. She did'nt hide her strong desire to win and concentrated all her efforts on the finals. She was dying for the gold medal and then finally she became the gold medalist.

She has often been reffered to as the " beast " because of her fiece look. But she dropped her fierce game face and stood on the top of the medals podium. Her face broke out into a wide smile and there was'nt the beast there.

I heard she started judo at a dojo which was known for its strict training when she was 6 years old. Since then she must have been practcing judo desperately. An instructor Katsuyuki Maruta who practiced with Matsumoto at the same dojo said, "She was strong-willed. I never heard her complain or show any weakness." She deserves the gold medal.

                                                                                                Chisato

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My Olympic hero - Kaori Matsumoto

LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 30: Gold medalist Kaori Matsumoto of Japan, Silver medalist Corina Caprioriu of Romania, Bronze medalist B Automne Pavia of France, Bronze medalist A Marti Malloy of the United States the Women's -57 kg Judo on Day 3 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at ExCeL on July 30, 2012 in London, England. (Image credit: Getty Images)

In the London Olympics, I was inspired by Kaori Matsumoto, 57kg class Judoist, who got the Gold medal first as a Japanese athlete. When she came up to the hall, her face was frightful, looked like a beast. I have known what her nickname is “Beast”, later. Her eyes were pointed very strongly, seemed angry. They made fear everything. Her air never changed during the match. Her powerful spirit beat all of the enemies. I was inspired by her strong powers of concentration and strong mind and body. 

 She looked a very strict, difficult stoic person in the matches, but surprisingly, she showed her charming smile after the matches. The interviewer asked her after the match “What would you like to eat the most now?” She asked “I really want to eat a parfait”. She is actually a lovely lady. I became one of her fan!

Teruki