If these rules were in place today, Japan would have lost their chance to win their first judo gold medal. However, during that time, the repechage rules were different, allowing Sekine to advance to the final by defeating Brian Jacks of Great Britain and Lutz Lischka of Austria. As a result, he faced South Korea’s Oh once again in the final round.Oon Yeoh, JudoInside’s JudoCrazy partner, is producing captivating content on the history of Olympic judo through a series of articles. Show your support for his work by becoming a subscriber on his Patreon or Substack.The Japanese team was anxious for the third day of the 1972 Munich Olympics, having not secured a gold medal in the first two days. Oon Yeoh from JudoCrazy delved into the events of that day and provided a more accurate account of history.In 2018, Sekine passed away.Oh continued to aggressively attack throughout the match, making it difficult for Sekine to execute his typical judo moves. Oh appeared to be on track to win by decision, as he had in their previous match. However, in the final moments of the match, Sekine made a last-ditch effort and successfully executed a tai-otoshi move that brought Oh to the ground. Although it did not result in a point, it was a close call. During the hantei, the judges were divided, but the Dutch referee ultimately awarded the victory to Sekine. Despite being on the defensive for most of the match, Sekine came closest to scoring and secured Japan’s first judo gold medal of the Games with a narrow victory.Support JudoCrazyAt the age of 28 in 1972, Sekine had not made a name for himself globally, having only received a bronze medal at the 1971 World Championships. Despite this, he managed to win the All-Japan Championships that same year, which was impressive considering it was an open weight category. Sekine, like Okano, competed in the -80kg division and they both hold the title of being the lightest players to have ever won the All-Japan Championships.Shinobu Sekine, a police officer from Chuo University, was a competitor of the renowned Isao Okano. After witnessing Okano’s victory at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Sekine aspired to represent Japan in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. However, since judo was not part of the event, he had to wait for four more years.Sekine had a successful start in Munich, winning his first three matches against opponents from Portugal, Hungary, and New Zealand using a combination of kouchi-gari and tai-otoshi. However, his next opponent, Oh Seung-lip from South Korea, proved to be a challenge. Oh took the lead early on and Sekine was unable to execute his typical combination attacks. Ultimately, Oh won the match by decision.
