Radomir Kovacevic
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's Judo | ||
Representing  Yugoslavia
|
||
| Olympic Games | ||
 |
1980 Moscow | + 95 kg |
| World Championship | ||
|
1979 Paris | Open |
| European Championship | ||
|
1976 Kiev | Open |
Radomir Kovačević (March 20, 1954 in Drvar — June 14, 2006 in Belgrade) was a Yugoslav Olympic judoka and coach. He participated in three Olympics (Montreal, Moscow, and Los Angeles) and was an Olympic medalist. He was well known in judo circles and was close friends with world-famous Japanese judo champion Yasuhiro Yamashita. He was a member of the NYC 2012 Olympic Bid Committee.
Radomir Kovačević was born in Drvar, Bosnia on March 20, 1954. His father was a World War II veteran. Kovačević grew up in and began practicing sports in Drvar. He started Track and Field in 1967, at the age of thirteen. By age fifteen he tried basketball, but said "I was very angry because regardless of how good I was, my opponent always scored."
The very next year Kovačević became a wrestler in the Greco-Roman style in which one is only allowed to use the upper half of his body. In one year he became champion of Yugoslavia, which was quite an accomplishment, considering that Yugoslavia was a world powerhouse in wrestling, at the time.
In the summer of 1971, after wrestling practice, Kovačević had decided to change sports yet again, when he saw small Japanese man "throwing people like paper airplanes", as he put it, at a local Judo club. The same day he resigned from his wrestling club and joined the judo club. After training for six months at that club he managed to throw the Japanese on one knee. On the spot, the Japanese offered to send him to Japan to study judo.
Two days later, he was flown off to Japan, where he enrolled in Tokai University and continued to practice Judo. He competed for the college and on his fourth year became captain of the judo team. He was one of the few foreigners to become captain of a Japanese judo team. During his time in Japan he also gained interest in eastern religion and philosophy.
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