| | Event type
Half-Heavyweight (≤95 kilograms), Men
| Date | 21 July 1996 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia (Hall H) | |
| Participants | 32 from 32 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. | |
The defending champion, Antal Kovács, had won the 1993 World Championships, but the 1995 title went to Poland’s Paweł Nastula. Both were in Atlanta, as was the 1988 Olympic gold medalist Aurélio Miguel of Brazil. All were drawn in Pool A and Nastula and Kovács were drawn against each other in their first match, which went to Nastula by ippon in less than a minute. Nastula and Miguel met in the pool final, where they fought a very close match, Nastula winning by penalties. In the final Nastula met Kim Min-Su of Korea, who was no match for the Pole, losing by ippon in 1:33, as Nastula used kuzure-kesa-gatame for the victory. Nastula repeated as World Champion in 1997 but then turned to Mixed Martial Arts, with only minimal success.
Pool A (21 July 1996)
Round One (21 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Khayrullo Nazriev |  TJK | Ippon/Seoi-nage (0:46) | Ronny Gómez |  CRC |
Round Two (21 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Aurélio Miguel |  BRA | Ippon/Seoi-otoshi (4:58) | Alejandro Bender |  ARG |
| Match #2 | Sergey Shakimov |  KAZ | Waza-ari-wasete Ippon/Ko-soto-gari (3:28) | Nacanieli Takayawa |  FIJ |
| Match #3 | Antonio Félicité |  MRI | Waza-ari/O-uchi-gari (5:00) | Willan Bouza |  URU |
| Match #4 | Keith Morgan |  CAN | Chui/Non-Combativity (5:00) | Arturo Gutiérrez |  MEX |
| Match #5 | Paweł Nastula |  POL | Ippon/Juji-gatame (0:59) | Antal Kovács |  HUN |
| Match #6 | Luigi Guido |  ITA | Chui/Fingers-in-Sleeve (5:00) | Khayrullo Nazriev | TJK |
| Match #7 | Ángel Sánchez |  CUB | Ippon/Ko-soto-gake (0:23) | Radu Ivan |  ROU |
| Match #8 | Pedro Soares |  POR | Ippon/O-uchi-gari (2:46) | Detlef Knorrek |  GER |
Quarter-Finals (21 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Aurélio Miguel | BRA | Hansoku-make/Non-Combativity (3:13) | Sergey Shakimov | KAZ |
| Match #2 | Antonio Félicité | MRI | Ippon/Tani-otoshi (2:57) | Keith Morgan | CAN |
| Match #3 | Paweł Nastula | POL | Waza-ari-wasete Ippon/O-uchi-gaeshi (3:59) | Luigi Guido | ITA |
| Match #4 | Pedro Soares | POR | Ippon/O-soto-gari (3:44) | Ángel Sánchez | CUB |
Semi-Finals (21 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Aurélio Miguel | BRA | Ippon/Uchi-mata (2:00) | Antonio Félicité | MRI |
| Match #2 | Paweł Nastula | POL | Ippon/Ippon Seoi-nage (2:17) | Pedro Soares | POR |
Final Round (21 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Paweł Nastula | POL | Chui/Defensive-Posture (5:00) | Aurélio Miguel | BRA |
Repêchage (21 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Alejandro Bender | ARG | Ippon/O-soto-gaeshi (2:07) | Sergey Shakimov | KAZ |
| Match #2 | Alejandro Bender | ARG | Ippon/Ko-soto-gake (2:33) | Antonio Félicité | MRI |
| Match #3 | Antal Kovács | HUN | Ippon/Kuchiki-taoshi (2:00) | Luigi Guido | ITA |
| Match #4 | Antal Kovács | HUN | Shido/Defensive-Posture (5:00) | Pedro Soares | POR |
| Match #5 | Antal Kovács | HUN | Ippon/Uchi-mata (2:10) | Alejandro Bender | ARG |
| Match 3/4 | Stéphane Traineau |  FRA | Waza-ari/Koshi-garami (5:00) | Antal Kovács | HUN |
Pool B (21 July 1996)
Round One (21 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Semír Pepic |  SVK | Ippon/O-uchi-gari (0:25) | Mohamed Bu Sakher |  KUW |
Round Two (21 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Ben Sonnemans |  NED | bye | ||
| Match #2 | Ray Stevens |  GBR | Yusei-gachi (5:00) | Bassel El-Gharbawy |  EGY |
| Match #3 | Kim Min-Su |  KOR | Hansoku-make/Non-Combativity (4:58) | Vernharð Þorleifsson |  ISL |
| Match #4 | Dmitry Sergeyev |  RUS | Ippon/O-uchi-gari (2:48) | Dmitry Solovyov |  UZB |
| Match #5 | Yoshio Nakamura |  JPN | bye | ||
| Match #6 | Mevlud Lobzhanidze |  GEO | Ippon/Harai-makikomi (3:27) | Rene Capo |  USA |
| Match #7 | Stéphane Traineau | FRA | Keikoku/Non-Combativity (5:00) | Leanid Sviryd |  BLR |
| Match #8 | Daniel Gowing |  NZL | Ippon/Kusure-yoko-shiho-gatame (3:51) | Semír Pepic | SVK |
Quarter-Finals (21 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Ben Sonnemans | NED | Chui/Non-Combativity (5:00) | Ray Stevens | GBR |
| Match #2 | Kim Min-Su | KOR | Waza-ari/Ko-soto-gake (5:00) | Dmitry Sergeyev | RUS |
| Match #3 | Yoshio Nakamura | JPN | Ippon/Tsuri-komi-goshi (0:23) | Mevlud Lobzhanidze | GEO |
| Match #4 | Stéphane Traineau | FRA | Ippon/Juji-gatame (2:56) | Daniel Gowing | NZL |
Semi-Finals (21 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Kim Min-Su | KOR | Waza-ari/Ko-soto-gake (5:00) | Ben Sonnemans | NED |
| Match #2 | Stéphane Traineau | FRA | Ippon/Kuchiki-taoshi (0:09) | Yoshio Nakamura | JPN |
Final Round (21 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Kim Min-Su | KOR | Ippon/Ippon Seoi-nage (3:06) | Stéphane Traineau | FRA |
Repêchage (21 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Dmitry Sergeyev | RUS | Ippon/Juji-gatame (1:46) | Vernharð Þorleifsson | ISL |
| Match #2 | Ben Sonnemans | NED | Hansoku-make/Non-Combativity (4:50) | Dmitry Sergeyev | RUS |
| Match #3 | Daniel Gowing | NZL | Keikoku/Non-Combativity (5:00) | Leanid Sviryd | BLR |
| Match #4 | Yoshio Nakamura | JPN | Sogo-gachi/Spine-Extension (2:52) | Daniel Gowing | NZL |
| Match #5 | Ben Sonnemans | NED | Yusei-gachi (5:00) | Yoshio Nakamura | JPN |
| Match 3/4 | Aurélio Miguel | BRA | Ippon/Tai-otoshisae-komi-waza (2:13) | Ben Sonnemans | NED |
Final Round (21 July 1996)
| Match 1/2 | Paweł Nastula | POL | Ippon/Kusure-kesa-gatame (1:33) | Kim Min-Su | KOR |