Wolfgang Hofmann was one of the pioneers of judo in West Germany. He won the silver medal in the middleweight class at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games with the mixed German team, which was the first ever German Olympic judo medal. The same year he won another silver at the Worlds. In 1965 and 1968 he took the European middleweight title, and also won the 1969 European Team title with West Germany. Nationally, he earned four individual and 11 team titles.
In 1964 Hofmann was awarded the Silver Bay Leaf, Germany’s highest sports award. In 2007 he was awarded the eighth dan. He studied sports at the German Sports High School in Köln (Cologne) and graduated as a sports teacher and lecturer. He owned the judo club SC Bushido Köln, and wrote textbooks about judo.