Middleweight (≤80 kilograms), Men

The favorite was Isao Okano, a 3rd Dan from Chuo University. With only an Open Class conducted at the World Championships until 1965, he had no major international title, but he had not been defeated in several years. His only competition was thought to be the Korean, Kim Eui-Tae. There were eight pools in the event. The second pool was won by Jim Bregman, an American who had trained extensively in Japan. Kim won the sixth pool, and Okano won the eighth pool. In the quarter-finals, Okano faced France’s Lionel Grossain, 1962 European Champion. After five minutes, Grossain found himself on his back, but reversed Okano, putting him onto his back, and at high risk of defeat. Okano grabbed Grossain’s collar in a form of okuri-eri-jime, and suddenly he realized that Grossain was not putting up any fight. He looked at the referee, trying to signal that Grossain was unconscious, but the referee did not acknowledge it. When a Japanese coach pointed out the limp legs of the Frenchman, the referee declared ippon for Okano. Okano immediately set to work to revive Grossain, using katsu, a traditional Japanese resuscitation technique, and he was not injured. After that, the semi-finals were anticlimactic. Okano defeated Kim in the second match by decision while in the first semi-final, Wolfgang Hoffman (GER) defeated Bregman. The final was not competitive, as Okano sidestepped Hoffman’s attempt to throw him, and clamped on a yoko-shiho-gatame, ending the match in 1:36.