| Date | 2 September 1972 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Ringer-Judo-Halle, Messegelände (Halle 14), München | |
| Participants | 35 from 35 countries | |
| Format | Two single-elimination pools, with winner of each pool advanced to the semi-finals. All judoka losing to the finalists in each pool advanced to repêchage pools. Winners of each repêchage pool advanced to the semi-finals. | |
The Japanese entrant, Shinobu Sekine, had won the All-Japan Championships a few months earlier and was considered the favorite. Also considered was Jean-Paul Coche, who had won the European title in May.
Sekine won his first three matches, but then lost to Oh Seung-Rip of Korea. Fortunately, Oh won the pool, allowing Sekine to advance via the repêchage. In the semi-final, he faced Brian Jacks of Great Britain, and defeated him via decision. In the other semi, Oh faced Coche, and threw him with osoto-gari in four minutes. The final was thus a re-match between Oh and Sekine. There was little action in the match, which was closely fought. Lasting the entire 10 minutes, Sekine won the gold medal by split decision.
| Date | 2 September 1972 |
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| Date | 2 September 1972 |
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| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 02 Sep | Guram Gogolauri | Waza-ari awasete ippon | Jonas Cissé | |||
| Match #2 | 02 Sep | Chang Ping-Ho | Waza-ari awasete ippon | Raymond Coulibaly |
| Date | 2 September 1972 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 02 Sep | Guram Gogolauri | Ippon | Irwin Cohen | |||
| Match #2 | 02 Sep | Martin Poglajen | Waza-ari awasete ippon | Jean de Dieu Razafimahatratra | |||
| Match #3 | 02 Sep | Slavko Obadov | Yusei-gachi | Choidoryn Övgönkhüü | |||
| Match #4 | 02 Sep | Philip Illingworth | Ippon | Carlos Socías | |||
| Match #5 | 02 Sep | Jean-Paul Coche | Yusei-gachi | Chang Ping-Ho | |||
| Match #6 | 02 Sep | Lhofei Shiozawa | Ippon | Tommy Tegelgård | |||
| Match #7 | 02 Sep | Brian Jacks | Waza-ari awasete ippon | Simo Akrenius | |||
| Match #8 | 02 Sep | Gerd Egger | Yusei-gachi | Luis Arredondo |
| Date | 2 September 1972 |
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| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 02 Sep | Guram Gogolauri | Yusei-gachi | Martin Poglajen | |||
| Match #2 | 02 Sep | Slavko Obadov | Yusei-gachi | Philip Illingworth | |||
| Match #3 | 02 Sep | Jean-Paul Coche | Yusei-gachi | Lhofei Shiozawa | |||
| Match #4 | 02 Sep | Brian Jacks | Yusei-gachi | Gerd Egger |
| Date | 2 September 1972 |
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| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 02 Sep | Guram Gogolauri | Yusei-gachi | Slavko Obadov | |||
| Match #2 | 02 Sep | Brian Jacks | Yusei-gachi | Jean-Paul Coche |
| Date | 2 September 1972 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 02 Sep | Brian Jacks | Yusei-gachi | Guram Gogolauri |
| Date | 2 September 1972 |
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| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 02 Sep | Gerd Egger | Yusei-gachi | Simo Akrenius | |||
| Match #2 | 02 Sep | Jean-Paul Coche | Yusei-gachi | Gerd Egger | |||
| Final | 02 Sep | Jean-Paul Coche | Yusei-gachi | Guram Gogolauri |
| Date | 2 September 1972 |
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| Date | 2 September 1972 |
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| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 02 Sep | Philippe Aubert | Waza-ari awasete ippon | Wadih Gosn |
| Date | 2 September 1972 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 02 Sep | Philippe Aubert | Yusei-gachi | Isaac Azcuy | |||
| Match #2 | 02 Sep | Lutz Lischka | Ippon | Boubker Slimani | |||
| Match #3 | 02 Sep | Petr Jákl | Yusei-gachi | Rudolf Hendel | |||
| Match #4 | 02 Sep | Oh Seung-Rip | Ippon | Cherdpong Punsoni | |||
| Match #5 | 02 Sep | Alex Bijkerk | Yusei-gachi | Terry Watt | |||
| Match #6 | 02 Sep | Rick Littlewood | Ippon | Adam Adamczyk | |||
| Match #7 | 02 Sep | László Ipacs | Yusei-gachi | Antonio Gallina | |||
| Match #8 | 02 Sep | Shinobu Sekine | Ippon | Orlando Ferreira |
| Date | 2 September 1972 |
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| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 02 Sep | Lutz Lischka | Yusei-gachi | Philippe Aubert | |||
| Match #2 | 02 Sep | Oh Seung-Rip | Ippon | Petr Jákl | |||
| Match #3 | 02 Sep | Rick Littlewood | Ippon | Alex Bijkerk | |||
| Match #4 | 02 Sep | Shinobu Sekine | Waza-ari awasete ippon | László Ipacs |
| Date | 2 September 1972 |
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| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 02 Sep | Oh Seung-Rip | Ippon | Lutz Lischka | |||
| Match #2 | 02 Sep | Shinobu Sekine | Yusei-gachi | Rick Littlewood |
| Date | 2 September 1972 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 02 Sep | Oh Seung-Rip | Yusei-gachi | Shinobu Sekine |
| Date | 2 September 1972 |
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| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 02 Sep | Petr Jákl | Ippon | Cherdpong Punsoni | |||
| Match #2 | 02 Sep | Lutz Lischka | Ippon | Petr Jákl | |||
| Final | 02 Sep | Shinobu Sekine | Ippon | Lutz Lischka |
| Date | 2 September 1972 |
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| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 02 Sep | Oh Seung-Rip | Ippon | Jean-Paul Coche | |||
| Match #2 | 02 Sep | Shinobu Sekine | Yusei-gachi | Brian Jacks |
| Date | 2 September 1972 |
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| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match 1/2 | 02 Sep | Shinobu Sekine | Yusei-gachi | Oh Seung-Rip |