| | Event type

Half-Middleweight (≤78 kilograms), Men

Date	23 July 1996
Status	Olympic
Location	Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia (Hall H)
Participants	34 from 34 countries
Format	Two single-elimination pools, with winner of each pool advanced to the final. All judoka losing to the finalists in each pool advanced to repêchage pools, with the winners of the repêchage pools earning bronze medals.

Japan had brought a dominant team to Atlanta, and the favorite in this class was also a Japanese, Toshihiko Koga, the 1995 World Champion in this class. Koga had been Olympic Champion in 1992 in lightweight, and was twice World Champion in the lightweight class (1989, 1991). Koga had briefly retired after the 1992 Olympics but came back for the 1995 Worlds. He had won five consecutive Kodakan Cups and six consecutive All-Japan championships. Koga made it to the final easily, where he faced France’s Djamel Bouras, whose previous biggest accomplishment was a bronze at the 1995 Worlds. The final was a defensive battle, with Koga leading until he was penalized for passivity with only 12 seconds remaining. This brought the match to hantei, with all three judges giving the decision to Bouras for the gold medal. Bouras would win a silver medal at the 1997 Worlds, while Koga would continue to compete thru 2000, but was never again a major factor at internationals.

Pos	Competitor	NOC
1	Djamel Bouras	FRA	Gold
2	Toshihiko Koga	JPN	Silver
=3	Jo In-Cheol	KOR	Bronze
=3	Soso Liparteliani	GEO	Bronze
=5	Stefan Dott	GER
=5	Gastón García	ARG
=7	Flávio Canto	BRA
=7	Iraklı Uznadze	TUR
=9	Vladimir Shmakov	UZB
=9	Lo Yu-Wei	TPE
=9	Konstantin Savchishkin	RUS
=9	Johan Laats	BEL
=13	Oleg Crețul	MDA
=13	Bronisław Wołkowicz	POL
=13	Yuan Chao	CHN
=13	Ricky Dixon	NCA
=17	Lyes Cherifi	ALG
=17	Thierry Vatrican	MON
=17	Patrick Klas	NED
=17	Jason Morris	USA
=21	Colin Morgan	CAN
=21	Alexandru Ciupe	ROU
=21	Suleman Musa	NGR
=21	Adler Volmar	HAI
=21	Ruslan Seilkhanov	KAZ
=21	Gabor Szabo	AUS
=21	Arsen Gevorgyan	ARM
=21	José Figueroa	PUR
=21	Adil Bel Gaid	MAR
=21	Karen Balaian	UKR
=21	Shay-Oren Smadja	ISR
=21	Dragoljub Radulović	SCG
=33	Patrick Reiter	AUT
=33	Graeme Randall	GBR

Pool A

Date	23 July 1996

Round One

Date	23 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	23 Jul	Hall H	Vladimir Shmakov	UZB	Ippon	Patrick Reiter	AUT

Round Two

Date	23 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	23 Jul	Hall H	Jo In-Cheol	KOR	Ippon	Oleg Crețul	MDA
Match #2	23 Jul	Hall H	Soso Liparteliani	GEO	Ippon	Colin Morgan	CAN
Match #3	23 Jul	Hall H	Vladimir Shmakov	UZB	Ippon	Alexandru Ciupe	ROU
Match #4	23 Jul	Hall H	Lyes Cherifi	ALG	Ippon	Suleman Musa	NGR
Match #5	23 Jul	Hall H	Flávio Canto	BRA	Ippon	Adler Volmar	HAI
Match #6	23 Jul	Hall H	Thierry Vatrican	MON	Waza-ari-wasete ippon	Ruslan Seilkhanov	KAZ
Match #7	23 Jul	Hall H	Bronisław Wołkowicz	POL	Ippon	Gabor Szabo	AUS
Match #8	23 Jul	Hall H	Toshihiko Koga	JPN	Waza-ari	Lo Yu-Wei	TPE

Quarter-Finals

Date	23 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	23 Jul	Hall H	Jo In-Cheol	KOR	Ippon	Soso Liparteliani	GEO
Match #2	23 Jul	Hall H	Vladimir Shmakov	UZB	Ippon	Lyes Cherifi	ALG
Match #3	23 Jul	Hall H	Flávio Canto	BRA	Ippon	Thierry Vatrican	MON
Match #4	23 Jul	Hall H	Toshihiko Koga	JPN	Waza-ari	Bronisław Wołkowicz	POL

Semi-Finals

Date	23 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	23 Jul	Hall H	Jo In-Cheol	KOR	Ippon	Vladimir Shmakov	UZB
Match #2	23 Jul	Hall H	Toshihiko Koga	JPN	Ippon	Flávio Canto	BRA

Final Round

Date	23 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	23 Jul	Hall H	Toshihiko Koga	JPN	Keikoku	Jo In-Cheol	KOR

Repêchage

Date	23 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	23 Jul	Hall H	Soso Liparteliani	GEO	Ippon	Oleg Crețul	MDA
Match #2	23 Jul	Hall H	Soso Liparteliani	GEO	Ippon	Vladimir Shmakov	UZB
Match #3	23 Jul	Hall H	Lo Yu-Wei	TPE	Ippon	Bronisław Wołkowicz	POL
Match #4	23 Jul	Hall H	Flávio Canto	BRA	Ippon	Lo Yu-Wei	TPE
Match #5	23 Jul	Hall H	Soso Liparteliani	GEO	Ippon	Flávio Canto	BRA
Match 3/5	23 Jul	Hall H	Soso Liparteliani	GEO	Ippon	Stefan Dott	GER

Pool B

Date	23 July 1996

Round One

Date	23 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	23 Jul	Hall H	Shay-Oren Smadja	ISR	Ippon	Graeme Randall	GBR

Round Two

Date	23 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	23 Jul	Hall H	Djamel Bouras	FRA	Shido	Konstantin Savchishkin	RUS
Match #2	23 Jul	Hall H	Yuan Chao	CHN	Ippon	Arsen Gevorgyan	ARM
Match #3	23 Jul	Hall H	Patrick Klas	NED	Yuko	José Figueroa	PUR
Match #4	23 Jul	Hall H	Gastón García	ARG	Ippon	Adil Bel Gaid	MAR
Match #5	23 Jul	Hall H	Jason Morris	USA	Koka	Karen Balaian	UKR
Match #6	23 Jul	Hall H	Iraklı Uznadze	TUR	Koka	Shay-Oren Smadja	ISR
Match #7	23 Jul	Hall H	Stefan Dott	GER	Ippon	Ricky Dixon	NCA
Match #8	23 Jul	Hall H	Johan Laats	BEL	Ippon	Dragoljub Radulović	SCG

Quarter-Finals

Date	23 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	23 Jul	Hall H	Djamel Bouras	FRA	Chui	Yuan Chao	CHN
Match #2	23 Jul	Hall H	Gastón García	ARG	Ippon	Patrick Klas	NED
Match #3	23 Jul	Hall H	Iraklı Uznadze	TUR	Waza-ari	Jason Morris	USA
Match #4	23 Jul	Hall H	Stefan Dott	GER	Ippon	Johan Laats	BEL

Semi-Finals

Date	23 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	23 Jul	Hall H	Djamel Bouras	FRA	Ippon	Gastón García	ARG
Match #2	23 Jul	Hall H	Stefan Dott	GER	Ippon	Iraklı Uznadze	TUR

Final Round

Date	23 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	23 Jul	Hall H	Djamel Bouras	FRA	Keikoku	Stefan Dott	GER

Repêchage

Date	23 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	23 Jul	Hall H	Konstantin Savchishkin	RUS	Ippon	Yuan Chao	CHN
Match #2	23 Jul	Hall H	Gastón García	ARG	Waza-ari	Konstantin Savchishkin	RUS
Match #3	23 Jul	Hall H	Johan Laats	BEL	Ippon	Ricky Dixon	NCA
Match #4	23 Jul	Hall H	Iraklı Uznadze	TUR	Ippon	Johan Laats	BEL
Match #5	23 Jul	Hall H	Gastón García	ARG	Ippon	Iraklı Uznadze	TUR
Match 3/5	23 Jul	Hall H	Jo In-Cheol	KOR	Ippon	Gastón García	ARG

Final Round

Date	23 July 1996

Match	Date/Time	Location	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match 1/2	23 Jul	Hall H	Djamel Bouras	FRA	Yusei-gachi	Toshihiko Koga	JPN