Keiji Suzuki

This article is about the judoka. For the World War II agent, see Suzuki Keiji.

Keiji Suzuki
Keiji (right) at final of All-Japan Judo Championships
Personal information
NationalityJapanese
Born (1980-06-03) 3 June 1980 (age 44)
Jōsō, Ibaraki, Japan
Alma materKokushikan University
OccupationJudoka
Height1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Sport
CountryJapan
SportJudo
Weight class–100 kg, +100 kg, Open
Rank     7th dan black belt[1]
Coached byKoichi Iwabuchi
Hitoshi Saito
KumiteLeft
PositionHeisei Kanzai
Achievements and titles
Olympic GamesGold (2004)
World Champ.Gold (2003, 2005)
Asian Champ.Gold (2002)
Medal record
Men's judo
Representing  Japan
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2004 Athens +100 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2003 Osaka Open
Gold medal – first place 2005 Cairo ‍–‍100 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Tokyo Open
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Tyumen Open
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2002 Busan ‍–‍100 kg
Asian Championships
Silver medal – second place 2004 Almaty +100 kg
Silver medal – second place 2009 Taipei +100 kg
World Masters
Silver medal – second place 2010 Suwon +100 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2011 Baku +100 kg
IJF Grand Slam
Silver medal – second place 2009 Tokyo +100 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Rio de Janeiro +100 kg
IJF Grand Prix
Gold medal – first place 2009 Qingdao +100 kg
Gold medal – first place 2010 Tunis +100 kg
Silver medal – second place 2010 Düsseldorf +100 kg
Silver medal – second place 2011 Düsseldorf +100 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2012 Düsseldorf +100 kg
World Juniors Championships
Gold medal – first place 1998 Cali ‍–‍100 kg
Summer Universiade
Gold medal – first place 2001 Beijing ‍–‍100 kg
Profile at external databases
IJF1777
JudoInside.com6559
Updated on 30 May 2023

Keiji Suzuki (鈴木桂治, Suzuki Keiji, born 3 June 1980 in Jōsō, Ibaraki)[2] is a Japanese judoka and scholar of sports science.

Suzuki won the Olympic gold medal in the heavyweight (+100 kg) division in 2004. He is also a two-time world champion.

Suzuki is noted for being a remarkably small judoka in the heavyweight division; he also regularly competed in the light-heavyweight (‍–‍100 kg) class.

Suzuki is known as having some of the best Ashi-waza of all heavyweights.

Suzuki was eliminated in the first round of the +100 kg event at the 2010 World Championships in Yoyogi, Japan, via ippon by Janusz Wojnarowicz of Poland.[3]

Suzuki dislocated his shoulder in the semi-finals of the 2012 All-Japan Judo Championships and subsequently announced his retirement as he was not selected to represent Japan at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Suzuki was appointed Men's Heavyweight Coach for the Japanese team by the new head coach, his friend and former rival Kosei Inoue.

  1. ^ "IJF Dan Grades Awardees" (PDF). International Judo Federation. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  2. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Keiji Suzuki". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016.
  3. ^ Kyodo News, "Ex-champ Suzuki falls at first hurdle", Japan Times, 10 September 2010, p. 11.