Montreal 1976, -70kg: Vladimir Nevzorov (URS)
In the 1970s, it was very rare that a Japanese was not the favorite for a gold medal but this was the case in the -70kg division in Montreal. The top prospect there was Vladimir Nevzorov of the Soviet Union, the reigning World Champion from 1975. He was also the European Champion that year.
Nevzorov was a unique Soviet fighter, for although he did have a Sambo wrestling background, his judo style was somewhat classical, with uchimata and tai-otoshi being his favorite techniques.
Although he was widely admired for his technical wizardry, he was also an extremely hard worker. He was an inspiration for Alexander Iatskevich, a famous Soviet player whose name is synonymous with a rolling juji-gatame that it very popular, even to this day.
“I always remember seeing Nevzorov in training camps,” Iatskevich wrote in his book, Russian Judo. “Not only was he particularly gifted, he also trained harder than anyone else.”
Iatskevich recalled seeing Nevzorov always staying back in the dojo after the formal session was over, to work on techniques or to do some conditioning training.
The Japanese knew they had a tough fight ahead in the -70kg division because Nevzorov had beaten their player, Koji Kuramoto, in the 1975 World Championships. There was no reason to suggest the outcome would be any different this time.
As expected, Nevzorov blitzed through the preliminary rounds, beating his opponents from Poland, Switzerland and Australia by ippon. Even South Korea’s representative, Lee Chang-sun, could not stop him, and succumbed to the inevitable tai-otoshi for ippon.
Kuramoto had a harder time in the prelims, winning only one match by ippon, but he made his way to the final for a rematch with Nevzorov. The outcome of that match was to be but a formality but it very nearly didn’t go as planned.
As expected Nevzorov dominated, throwing Kuramoto twice with his lightning quick cross-grip tai-otoshi. The first one scored koka but the second one could have easily been an ippon. Even the Japanese coach, Isao Okano, was reported to have said afterwards that the second tai-otoshi was indeed worthy of an ippon. Nevertheless, only a waza-ari was given.
Kuramoto had a second lease of life and he very nearly turned Nevzorov into a hold-down in the final seconds of the match. But Nevzorov managed to stay largely on his belly until the timer rang, giving him the win.