Half-Middleweight (≤81 kilograms), Men

Ilias Iliadis was unknown in the international judo world prior to 2004. But only a few months before the Olympics he won the European Championships, representing Greece. Iliadis was a native Georgian, born as Jarji Zviadauri, the cousin of Georgian Olympic champion Zurab Zviadauri. In Athina, Iliadis advanced to the final with only one close match, a pool semi-final win over Korea’s Kwon Yeong-U which Iliadis won by golden score on a penalty against Kwon. The favorite in the other pool was the 2003 World Champion, Germany’s Florian Wanner. But he was upset in the pool semis by Ukrainian Roman Hontiuk. The final matched Hontiuk and Iliadis, with Iliadis winning in 2:06 by ippon, using seoi-otoshi. Hontiuk would become World Cup champion in 2005 and 2007, while Iliadis won silver medals at the World Championships in those years.