Shohei Ono
Mr Excitement
Every generation has its own superstar. In the 1980s, there was Yasuhiro Yamashita (JPN) and Neil Adams (GBR). In the 1990s there was Toshihiko Koga (JPN) and Jeon Ki-Young (KOR). In the 2000’s we had Kosei Inoue (JPN). And you could argue the 2010’s belong to Teddy Riner (FRA). But Riner isn’t always the most exciting player.
All the other superstars of yesteryear believed in “ippon” judo. They won big – and sometimes lost big – but they always strove for the big ippon. In contrast, Riner won two Olympic gold medals playing the shido game. So, while Riner’s impressive results make him the most dominant player today, he's hardly the most exciting to watch.
That distinction belongs to Ono, who seems to be able to throw his opponents at will. Once he gets two hands on them, it's just a matter of time before they go flying over.
More so than any superstar – with the possible exception of Adams – Ono uses a wide range of techniques. Though mainly known for uchimata, Ono has shown that he can also throw with osoto-gari, kosoto-gari, tomoe-nage, seoi-nage, sode-tsurikomi-goshi, koshi-guruma, de-ashi-barai, kouchi-gake and even ura-nage.
In Rio, he used no fewer than five different techniques on his way to winning gold. And, yes, he won the final with an ippon (despite already having scored waza-ari earlier). If you like seeing big ippons, it doesn’t get better than the Ono show.