Half-Middleweight (≤78 kilograms), Men

There were several contenders with no clear favorite. Defending champion West German Frank Wieneke was back but had not won a major title since 1984. The Japanese World Champion Hirotaka Okada was expected to challenge for a medal. Also highly considered was Britain’s five-time European Champion Neil Adams, twice an Olympic silver medalist. Adams had come out of retirement to chase the one medal that had escaped him during his career. But the division was marked by upset after upset. Adams went out to East German, Torsten Bréchôt, who had been 1985 World runner-up when known as Torsten Oehmigen. Okada was defeated by Frenchman Pascal Tayot, a strong, muscular fighter with little technique. One pool final matched Wieneke against Bréchôt, with Wieneke closing it out with a koka with seven seconds remaining. The other pool final matched Russian Bashir Varayev, 1987 World runner-up, against Poland’s Waldemar Legień, the 1985 European silver medalist. Legień won by decision, but Varayev’s actions made everyone in the crowd know he did not agree with the result. Just after four minutes into the final, Legień dropped to his back to begin groundwork. Wieneke attacked, but Legień grabbed him and threw with seoi-nage for ippon to win the gold medal at 4:44. Legień would return in 1992 to win gold in the middleweight class.