| | Event type

Heavyweight (>95 kilograms), Men

Date	1 October 1988
Status	Olympic
Location	Jang-chung Che-yuk-gwan, Seoul
Participants	26 from 26 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.

Japan had not yet won a gold medal in judo at Seoul. But the heavyweight favorite was Hitoshi Saito, who was expected to end the drought. Saito was the defending gold medalist and had been World Champion in 1983. Still, he had not won a major international since Los Angeles. Saito made it to the final against East German Henry Stöhr. The match was quite dull, with Saito winning by fewer passivity warnings, two to three. The two bronze medals were won by the last two World Champions, Grigory Verichev (URS-1987) and Jo Yong-Cheol (KOR-1985). Saito’s gold medal made him the second judoka to defend his Olympic title in Seoul, after Austria’s Peter Seisenbacher in the middleweight class. Prior to 1988, no judoka had defended an Olympic title.

Pos	Competitor	NOC
1	Hitoshi Saito	JPN	Gold
2	Henry Stöhr	GDR	Silver
=3	Jo Yong-Cheol	KOR	Bronze
=3	Grigory Verichev	URS	Bronze
=5	István Dubovszky	HUN
=5	Dimitar Zapryanov	BUL
=7	Mohamed Ali Rashwan	EGY
=7	Juha Salonen	FIN
=9	Lansana Coly	SEN
=9	Benjamin McMurray	PHI
=11	Andrzej Basik	POL
=11	Frederico Flexa	BRA
=13	Badmaanyambuugiin Bat-Erdene	MGL
=13	Sigurður Bergmann	ISL
=13	Stefano Venturelli	ITA
=13	Helder de Carvalho	ANG
=13	Steven Cohen	USA
=13	Elvis Gordon	GBR
=19	Roger Vachon	FRA
=19	Dragomir Kusmuk	YUG
=19	Alexander von der Groeben	FRG
=19	Boualem Miloudi	ALG
=19	Clemens Jehle	SUI
=19	Xu Guoqing	CHN
=19	Ricardo Blas	GUM
=19	Abderrahim Lahcinia	MAR
DNS	Jorge Portelli	ARG

Pool A

Date	1 October 1988

Round One

Date	1 October 1988

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	01 Oct	Dimitar Zapryanov	BUL	Koka	Roger Vachon	FRA
Match #2	01 Oct	Hitoshi Saito	JPN	Ippon	Lansana Coly	SEN
Match #3	01 Oct	Mohamed Ali Rashwan	EGY	Fusen-gachi	Jorge Portelli	ARG	walkover
Match #4	01 Oct	Jo Yong-Cheol	KOR	Ippon	Alexander von der Groeben	FRG
Match #5	01 Oct	Stefano Venturelli	ITA	Ippon	Boualem Miloudi	ALG
Match #6	01 Oct	Andrzej Basik	POL	Koka	Clemens Jehle	SUI

Quarter-Finals

Date	1 October 1988

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	01 Oct	Hitoshi Saito	JPN	Ippon	Dimitar Zapryanov	BUL
Match #2	01 Oct	Mohamed Ali Rashwan	EGY	Ippon	Sigurður Bergmann	ISL
Match #3	01 Oct	Jo Yong-Cheol	KOR	Waza-ari	Stefano Venturelli	ITA
Match #4	01 Oct	Andrzej Basik	POL	Waza-ari awasete ippon	Helder de Carvalho	ANG

Semi-Finals

Date	1 October 1988

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	01 Oct	Hitoshi Saito	JPN	Ippon	Mohamed Ali Rashwan	EGY
Match #2	01 Oct	Jo Yong-Cheol	KOR	Yuko	Andrzej Basik	POL

Final Round

Date	1 October 1988

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	01 Oct	Hitoshi Saito	JPN	Chui	Jo Yong-Cheol	KOR

Repêchage

Date	1 October 1988

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	01 Oct	Dimitar Zapryanov	BUL	Ippon	Lansana Coly	SEN
Match #2	01 Oct	Dimitar Zapryanov	BUL	Yusei-gachi	Mohamed Ali Rashwan	EGY
Match 3/5	01 Oct	Jo Yong-Cheol	KOR	Shido	Dimitar Zapryanov	BUL

Pool B

Date	1 October 1988

Round One

Date	1 October 1988

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	01 Oct	Juha Salonen	FIN	Yuko	Xu Guoqing	CHN
Match #2	01 Oct	Steven Cohen	USA	Waza-ari	Ricardo Blas	GUM
Match #3	01 Oct	Henry Stöhr	GDR	Ippon	Benjamin McMurray	PHI
Match #4	01 Oct	Grigory Verichev	URS	Waza-ari	Dragomir Kusmuk	YUG
Match #5	01 Oct	Frederico Flexa	BRA	Ippon	Abderrahim Lahcinia	MAR

Quarter-Finals

Date	1 October 1988

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	01 Oct	Juha Salonen	FIN	Yusei-gachi	Steven Cohen	USA
Match #2	01 Oct	Henry Stöhr	GDR	Ippon	István Dubovszky	HUN
Match #3	01 Oct	Grigory Verichev	URS	Waza-ari awasete ippon	Badmaanyambuugiin Bat-Erdene	MGL
Match #4	01 Oct	Frederico Flexa	BRA	Ippon	Elvis Gordon	GBR

Semi-Finals

Date	1 October 1988

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	01 Oct	Henry Stöhr	GDR	Ippon	Juha Salonen	FIN
Match #2	01 Oct	Grigory Verichev	URS	Yusei-gachi	Frederico Flexa	BRA

Final Round

Date	1 October 1988

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	01 Oct	Henry Stöhr	GDR	Yusei-gachi	Grigory Verichev	URS

Repêchage

Date	1 October 1988

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	01 Oct	István Dubovszky	HUN	Ippon	Benjamin McMurray	PHI
Match #2	01 Oct	István Dubovszky	HUN	Chui	Juha Salonen	FIN
Match 3/5	01 Oct	Grigory Verichev	URS	Yuko	István Dubovszky	HUN

Final Round

Date	1 October 1988

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match 1/2	01 Oct	Hitoshi Saito	JPN	Keikoku	Henry Stöhr	GDR