Osamu Watanabe
Osamu Watanabe at the 1964 Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | October 21, 1940 Wassamu, Hokkaido, Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | October 1, 2022 (aged 81) Tokyo, Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Chuo University[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 63 kg (139 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Freestyle wrestling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Osamu Watanabe (渡辺 長武, Watanabe Osamu; October 21, 1940 – October 1, 2022) was a Japanese freestyle wrestler. In 1962 (Toledo, Ohio), he debuted internationally and was the reigning world champion, when he capped off his career with a gold medal for Japan in freestyle wrestling at the 1964 Olympics, retiring from competition shortly afterwards as the only undefeated Olympic champion to date at 189–0.[2][3] He is considered one of the best wrestlers in Olympic history.[4]
In the early 2000s Watanabe resumed competing internationally in the masters category.[5] He died of a heart attack on October 1, 2022.[6]
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Osamu Watanabe (wrestler).
- ^ Osamu Watanabe at the Encyclopædia Britannica
- ^ Tomizawa, Roy (2 July 2015). "Osamu "Animal" Watanabe – 189 Straight Victories in Wrestling". The Olympians from 1964 to 2020. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
- ^ The numbers vary from 187 to 300+ (Britannica)
- ^ "FLAWLESS WATANABE SECURES FEATHERWEIGHT WRESTLING GOLD". olympic.org. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
- ^ Osamu Watanabe. ssf.or.jp
- ^ 渡辺長武さんが死去、心臓発作で 64年東京五輪金メダリスト レスリング協会発表 (in Japanese)