Anton Geesink

Anton Geesink

Anton Geesink in 1962
Personal information
Full name	Antonius Johannes Geesink
Born	(1934-04-06)April 6, 1934 Utrecht, Netherlands
Died	August 27, 2010(2010-08-27) (aged 76) Netherlands
Height	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight	120 kg (260 lb)
Sport
Sport	Judo
Division(s)	no bodyweight limit
Rank	10th Dan Black Belt
Medal record Men's Judo Representing the  Netherlands Olympic Games 1964 Tokyo Open World Championships 1961 Paris Open 1956 Tokyo Open 1965 Rio de Janeiro +80 kg European Championships 1962 Essen +80 kg 1962 Essen Open class 1963 Geneva +80 kg 1963 Geneva Open class 1964 Berlin +80 kg 1964 Berlin Open class 1965 Madrid +93 kg 1965 Madrid Open class 1967 Rome Open class
Updated on February 11, 2014.

Antonius Johannes "Anton" Geesink (April 6, 1934 – August 27, 2010) was a Dutch 10th-dan judoka from Utrecht. He was a two-time World Judo Champion (1961 and 1965), Olympic Gold Medalist (1964) and won 21 European championships.

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 1956 World Championships, Geesink was eliminated in the semi-finals against Yoshihiko Yoshimatsu. At the 1961 World Championships, Geesink, then 5th dan, became World Champion in the open class, defeating the Japanese champion Koji Sone. Japanese judokas had won all the World Championship titles contested up to that point.

Judo debuted as an official sport at the 1964 Summer Olympics, which were held in the sport's home country, Japan. 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 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 was one of the few 10th Dan grade judoka (jūdan) recognized by the IJF but not by Kodokan at that rank. Promotions from 6th to 10th Dan are awarded for services to the sport of judo. In 2010 there are three living 10th dan grade judoka (jūdan) recognized by Kodokan: Toshiro Daigo, Ichiro Abe and Yoshimi Osawa. The Kodokan has not awarded the 10th Dan to anybody outside Japan.