Half-Heavyweight (≤100 kilograms), Men

The overwhelming favorite was Japan’s Kosei Inoue, who was the defending champion in the class, had won the last three World Championships, and had not been defeated in four years. But all streaks come to an end. In the pool semis, he faced Elco van der Geest (NED), who was the 2002 European Champion, with van der Geest winning by a shoulder throw with only 12 seconds left in the match. The final came down to Belarus’s Igor Makarov, who was 2003 World bronze medalist, and Korea’s Jang Seong-Ho, who had won silver and bronze medals at the 1999 and 2001 World Championships. The final was a close match with Makarov winning by points, his waza-ari besting Jang’s two yukos – 0101 to 0020.