Anton Geesink

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Anton Geesink

Antonius "Anton" Johannes Geesink (born April 6, 1934) is a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a country that is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands is located in North-West Europe, and bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east....
10th dan

Dan rank

The ranking system is a Japanese mark of level, which is used in traditional Japanese art and martial arts. Originally invented in a Go school in the Edo period, this system was later applied to martial arts by Kano Jigoro, the founder of judo and later introduced to other East Asian countries....
judoka. He is a three-time World Judo

Judo

, meaning "gentle way", is a modern Japanese martial art and combat sport, that originated in Japan in the late nineteenth century. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either Throw one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling manoeuvre, or force an opponent...
Champion (1961, 1964 and 1965) and Olympic Gold Medalist (1964). He was 6'7" (2.01m) tall and at one time weighted 320 pounds (145 kg). He was born in Utrecht

Utrecht (city)

Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands province of Utrecht . It is located in the North-Eastern end of the Randstad, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands, with a population of 300,030....
.

ink first participated in the European Championships in 1951, and placed second in his category.

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Encyclopedia

Antonius "Anton" Johannes Geesink (born April 6, 1934) is a Dutch

Netherlands

Dan rank

Judo

Utrecht (city)

Judo career

Geesink first participated in the European Championships in 1951, and placed second in his category. The following year, he won his first European title. Through to 1967, twenty more European titles followed.

At the 1961 World Championships, Geesink became World Champion in the open class, defeating the Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
ese, who had won all World Championship titles up to that point.

Judo debuted as an official sport at the 1964 Summer Olympics

1964 Summer Olympics

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964....
, which were held in the sport's home country, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south....
. Although Japan dominated three of the four weight divisions (light, middle and heavy), Anton Geesink won the final of the open weight division, defeating Akio Kaminaga

Akio Kaminaga

was a judoka who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics....
in front of his home crowd.

After winning the 1965 World Championships and a last European title in 1967, Geesink quit competitive judo.

Anton Geesink is the only living 10th dan grade kodansha recognized by the IJF

International Judo Federation

The International Judo Federation was founded in July 1951. The IJF was originally composed of judo federations from Europe plus Argentina. Countries from four continents were affiliated over the next ten years....
but not by Kodokan

Kodokan

is the headquarters of the judo world. Literally, ko means "to lecture" or "to spread information," do means "the way," and kan is "a public building or hall," together translating roughly as "a place for the study or promotion of the way." It was established by Kano Jigoro, the founder of judo in 1882, and is now located in an eight-s...
. There are three living 10th dan kodanshas recognized by Kodokan: Toshiro Daigo, Ichiro Abe and Yoshimi Osawa.

Professional wrestling career

In October 1973, All Japan Pro-Wrestling owner Giant Baba recruited Anton Geesink to join AJPW. Baba sent him to Amarillo, TX and Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk
Terry Funk

Terrence "Terry" Funk is an United States Professional wrestling and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the later part of his career that inspired many later wrestlers, including Mick Foley....
trained him for a month. He worked for All Japan from 1973 to 1978, as a popular part-timer.

Notable opponents included Bruno Sammartino

Bruno Sammartino

Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino is an Italy former Professional wrestling, best known for being the longest-running champion of the World Wrestling Entertainment , holding the title across two reigns for over 11 years in total, as well as the longest single Pro Wrestling Illustrated#PWI World Champions reign in professional wrestling hi...
, Gorilla Monsoon

Gorilla Monsoon

Robert James "Gino" Marella , better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an United States Professional wrestling, play-by-play announcer, and List of professional wrestling terms#B....
, Dick Murdoch

Dick Murdoch

Hoyt Richard "Dick" Murdoch was an American professional wrestling....
, Dory Funk Jr., Bob Remus (Sgt. Slaughter

Sgt. Slaughter

Robert Remus is an United States former World Wrestling Entertainment personality, and semi-retired Professional wrestling better known by the ring name Sgt....
), Jumbo Tsuruta

Jumbo Tsuruta

Tomomi Tsuruta , better known by his ring name Jumbo Tsuruta, was a professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling for most of his career....
.

International Olympic Committee work

In 1987, he became a member of the board of the Dutch National Olympic Committee, and a member of the International Olympic Committee

International Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee is an organization based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas on June 23, 1894....
(IOC).

Geesink was among the IOC members suspected of accepting bribes during the scandal surrounding the election of Salt Lake City as the host of the 2002 Winter Olympics

2002 Winter Olympics

The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIX Olympic Winter Games were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States....
. The IOC considered the situation not serious enough for expulsion, and issued a warning to Geesink.

Honors

Geesink was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Japanese government.

His home town of Utrecht has a street named after him — the street that he lives in.

External links

(judovision.org)