Wim Ruska

Wim Ruska was born on 29 August 1940 in the Netherlands and passed away on 14 February 2015. The only judoka in history to win two gold medals at the same Olympic Games - Heavyweight AND Open category at Munich 1972. He started judo at age 20 - late by elite standards - but under the coaching of Anton Geesink he developed into the dominant heavyweight judoka of his era. He also won 2x World Championship gold (1967, 1971) and multiple European titles. His double gold in Munich remains one of the greatest individual performances in Olympic judo history and has never been repeated. After retiring he became a coach and mentor, passing his knowledge on to the next generation.