USA’s 47YO 2x Judo World Champion Reveals His Ambitious Dream To Compete in 2028 LA Olympics

Competitive sports allow an athlete to channel their inner strength and make their bodies work at their peak. As the body ages, however, the upper limit of performance attributes gradually declines. But, a US judo fighter has taken up a quest to defy these odds and beat the best judokas.

Tozuko Takahashi is a 47-year-old Japanese-American judoka fighter. The 100kg fighter has been practicing judo for over 40 years now and has two veteran world championships under his belt. However, he recently revealed in a new social media post that he isn’t satisfied with just being a veteran champ. In fact, he wants to compete and win at the 2028 Olympics.

Tozuko Takahashi and his unique Olympic dream

International Judo Federation (IJF) and USA Judo jointly uploaded a post on Instagram showcasing a video featuring Tozuko Takahashi. The post carried the caption, “Judo Stories: 40 years of competing in Judo! Tokuzo Takahashi has an incredible tale to tell.” The video saw the judoka narrating his journey, how he started in Japan, and how he now competes for the US.

His story also carried a part where he mentioned that he was looking forward to competing at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. The judo expert said that after coming to the US, he competed in and won eight open weight championships and won them all. The same happened in the veteran world championships. The 47-year-old said that something felt missing, and it wasn’t the gold medals.

Tozuko Takahashi said that the missing element was top-tier competition. Something which he realized when fought an 18-year-old and couldn’t beat him. Interestingly, Takahashi doesn’t just have a desire to participate alone in the Olympics. In fact, he revealed that he wants his students to take part as well.

Starting a judo academy after the US move

Tozuko Takahashi started a judo academy after shifting to the United States. While he had retired from competitive participation, he had to unretire himself to gain a reputation for his academy. As he won competitions, his dojo kept getting more students. Today, however, competition is no longer a means to an end. 

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Takahashi also noted that he wants to welcome his students to the Olympic qualification team as their opponent. The 47-year-old held that it was true that he wished to go to the Olympics. But, he said that he would feel happier if his students surpassed him for those Olympic spots. As the Paris Olympics come close, Takahashi would look forward to witnessing today’s fighters and coming back in 2028 to win.

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