| | Event type

Half-Lightweight (≤65 kilograms), Men

Date	26 September 1988
Status	Olympic
Location	Jang-chung Che-yuk-gwan, Seoul
Participants	42 from 42 countries
Format	Two single-elimination pools, with winner of each pool advanced to the final. All judoka losing to the winner of each pool advanced to repêchage pools, with the winners of the repêchage pools earning bronze medals.

The favorite was the 1987 World Champion, Japan’s Yosuke Yamamoto. In winning that title, he had defeated the 1985 World Champion, Yury Sokolov (URS), in the final. Sokolov was also in Seoul. More lightly regarded was Korean Lee Gyeong-Geun, who had been runner-up in 1985 to Sokolov. In the first round, Sokolov lost to former European Champion Bruno Carabetta (FRA), basically eliminating him from medal contention. The pool finals matched Yamamoto against unheralded Pole Janusz Pawłowski, and Lee against European Champion Tamás Bujkó. Yamamoto was not expected to have trouble, but Pawłowski threw him with ippon-seoi-nage to advance to the final. Lee won the other pool final with ippon from a hold, after dominating the Hungarian. The final was very close. Lee won, but only by decision (yusei-gachi) at the time limit.

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC
1	Lee Gyeong-Geun	KOR	Gold
2	Janusz Pawłowski	POL	Silver
=3	Yosuke Yamamoto	JPN	Bronze
=3	Bruno Carabetta	FRA	Bronze
=5	Tamás Bujkó	HUN
=5	Brent Cooper	NZL
=7	Philip Laats	BEL
=7	Claudio Yafuso	ARG
=9	Drago Bećanović	YUG
=9	Ivo Kostadinov	BUL
11	Tommy Mortensen	DEN
=12	Pepi Reiter	AUT
=12	Pavel Petřikov	TCH
=14	Driss El-Mamoun	MAR
=14	Joe Marchal	USA
=14	Vicente Céspedes	PAR
=14	Jamsrangiin Dorjderem	MGL
=14	Majemite Omagbaluwaje	NGR
=14	Eduardo Landazury	COL
=20	Guido Schumacher	FRG
=20	Ricardo Cardoso	BRA
=20	Hussain Safar	KUW
=20	Pierre Sène	SEN
=20	Udo Quellmalz	GDR
=20	Wu Po-Chen	TPE
=20	Leo Sarti	SMR
=20	Stephen Farrugia	MLT
=20	Yavuz Yolcu	TUR
=20	Warren Rosser	AUS
=20	Luis Fortunato	ANG
=20	Ilias Ioannou	CYP
=20	Mamadou Keita	MLI
=20	Au Woon Yiu	HKG
=34	Mark Adshead	GBR
=34	Víctor Rivera	PUR
=34	Rishiram Pradhan	NEP
=34	Derrick Anderson	GUM
=34	Meziane Dahmani	ALG
=34	Yury Sokolov	URS
=34	Craig Weldon	CAN
=34	John Bogie	KEN
=34	Kamil Sabali	LBN

Pool A (26 September 1988)

Round One (26 September 1988)

Match #1	Ivo Kostadinov	BUL	Yuko (5:00)	Mark Adshead	GBR
Match #2	Janusz Pawłowski	POL	Yuko (5:00)	Philip Laats	BEL
Match #3	Driss El-Mamoun	MAR	Ippon (3:05)	Kamil Sabali	LBN
Match #4	Udo Quellmalz	GDR	Yuko (5:00)	Craig Weldon	CAN
Match #5	Joe Marchal	USA	bye
Match #6	Vicente Céspedes	PAR	Hansoku-goshi (4:22)	John Bogie	KEN

Round Two (26 September 1988)

Match #1	Ivo Kostadinov	BUL	Ippon (0:52)	Guido Schumacher	FRG
Match #2	Janusz Pawłowski	POL	Waza-ari (5:00)	Tommy Mortensen	DEN
Match #3	Driss El-Mamoun	MAR	Yuko (5:00)	Hussain Safar	KUW
Match #4	Brent Cooper	NZL	Ippon (0:10)	Pierre Sène	SEN
Match #5	Yosuke Yamamoto	JPN	Waza-ari (5:00)	Udo Quellmalz	GDR
Match #6	Joe Marchal	USA	Ippon (2:21)	Wu Po-Chen	TPE
Match #7	Vicente Céspedes	PAR	Waza-ari-wasete Ippon (3:39)	Leo Sarti	SMR
Match #8	Pepi Reiter	AUT	Ippon (0:44)	Stephen Farrugia	MLT

Quarter-Finals (26 September 1988)

Match #1	Janusz Pawłowski	POL	Ippon (2:30)	Ivo Kostadinov	BUL
Match #2	Brent Cooper	NZL	Ippon (1:18)	Driss El-Mamoun	MAR
Match #3	Yosuke Yamamoto	JPN	Ippon (1:12)	Joe Marchal	USA
Match #4	Pepi Reiter	AUT	Ippon (0:54)	Vicente Céspedes	PAR

Semi-Finals (26 September 1988)

Match #1	Janusz Pawłowski	POL	Koka (5:00)	Brent Cooper	NZL
Match #2	Yosuke Yamamoto	JPN	Waza-ari-wasete Ippon (4:52)	Pepi Reiter	AUT

Final Round (26 September 1988)

Match #1	Janusz Pawłowski	POL	Ippon (4:23)	Yosuke Yamamoto	JPN

Repêchage (26 September 1988)

Match #1	Philip Laats	BEL	Ippon (1:56)	Tommy Mortensen	DEN
Match #2	Philip Laats	BEL	Koka (5:00)	Ivo Kostadinov	BUL
Match #3	Brent Cooper	NZL	Koka (5:00)	Philip Laats	BEL
Match 3/4	Yosuke Yamamoto	JPN	Ippon (1:40)	Brent Cooper	NZL

Pool B (26 September 1988)

Round One (26 September 1988)

Match #1	Claudio Yafuso	ARG	Ippon (0:13)	Derrick Anderson	GUM
Match #2	Drago Bećanović	YUG	Yusei-gachi (5:00)	Meziane Dahmani	ALG
Match #3	Bruno Carabetta	FRA	Waza-ari (5:00)	Yury Sokolov	URS
Match #4	Tamás Bujkó	HUN	Shido (5:00)	Víctor Rivera	PUR
Match #5	Au Woon Yiu	HKG	bye
Match #6	Pavel Petřikov	TCH	Waza-ari-wasete Ippon (2:30)	Rishiram Pradhan	NEP

Round Two (26 September 1988)

Match #1	Claudio Yafuso	ARG	Koka (5:00)	Yavuz Yolcu	TUR
Match #2	Lee Gyeong-Geun	KOR	Ippon (0:37)	Drago Bećanović	YUG
Match #3	Bruno Carabetta	FRA	Waza-ari-wasete Ippon (4:34)	Luis Fortunato	ANG
Match #4	Majemite Omagbaluwaje	NGR	Waza-ari (5:00)	Ilias Ioannou	CYP
Match #5	Tamás Bujkó	HUN	Ippon (0:45)	Mamadou Keita	MLI
Match #6	Eduardo Landazury	COL	Yuko (5:00)	Au Woon Yiu	HKG
Match #7	Pavel Petřikov	TCH	Koka (5:00)	Ricardo Cardoso	BRA
Match #8	Jamsrangiin Dorjderem	MGL	Ippon (0:59)	Warren Rosser	AUS

Quarter-Finals (26 September 1988)

Match #1	Lee Gyeong-Geun	KOR	Waza-ari-wasete Ippon (1:15)	Claudio Yafuso	ARG
Match #2	Bruno Carabetta	FRA	Yusei-gachi (5:00)	Majemite Omagbaluwaje	NGR
Match #3	Tamás Bujkó	HUN	Ippon (1:49)	Eduardo Landazury	COL
Match #4	Pavel Petřikov	TCH	Yusei-gachi (5:00)	Jamsrangiin Dorjderem	MGL

Semi-Finals (26 September 1988)

Match #1	Lee Gyeong-Geun	KOR	Yusei-gachi (5:00)	Bruno Carabetta	FRA
Match #2	Tamás Bujkó	HUN	Ippon (4:08)	Pavel Petřikov	TCH

Final Round (26 September 1988)

Match #1	Lee Gyeong-Geun	KOR	Ippon (3:33)	Tamás Bujkó	HUN

Repêchage (26 September 1988)

Match #1	Claudio Yafuso	ARG	Waza-ari (5:00)	Drago Bećanović	YUG
Match #2	Bruno Carabetta	FRA	Ippon (3:21)	Claudio Yafuso	ARG
Match 3/4	Bruno Carabetta	FRA	Yusei-gachi (5:00)	Tamás Bujkó	HUN

Final Round (26 September 1988)

Match 1/2	Lee Gyeong-Geun	KOR	Yusei-gachi (5:00)	Janusz Pawłowski	POL