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Osamu Watanabe

Full name: Osamu Watanabe
Original name: 渡辺 長武
Gender: Male
Height: 5'3" (160 cm)
Weight: 143 lbs (65 kg)
Born: October 21, 1940 in Wassamu, Hokkaido, Japan
Country: JPN Japan
Sport: Wrestling

Medals: 1 Gold (1 Total)

Biography

It is possible that Osamu Watanabe is the greatest wrestler ever, pound-for-pound. He had a very short career but he was never beaten or scored upon during it. It is known that he won at least 187 consecutive matches until his victory in the 1964 Olympics at Tokyo when he won the featherweight freestyle gold medal. In that tournament, Watanabe won all his matches without sacrificing a single point. This followed Watanabe victories in the 1962 and 1963 world championships. He was not immensely strong, but was very quick and his technical skills were unmatched in his era.

Results

Games Age City Sport Event Team NOC Rank Medal
1964 Summer 23 Tokyo Wrestling Men's Featherweight, Freestyle Japan JPN 1 Gold

Men's Featherweight, Freestyle

Event History
Games Age City Sport Team NOC Phase Unit Rank Date Result BP MR
1964 Summer 23 Tokyo Wrestling Japan JPN Final Standings 1 1964-10-11
1964 Summer 23 Tokyo Wrestling Japan JPN Final Round Match #2 1 1964-10-14 Watanabe (JPN) decision, Khokhashvili (URS)
1964 Summer 23 Tokyo Wrestling Japan JPN Round Five 1 1964-10-14 2
1964 Summer 23 Tokyo Wrestling Japan JPN Round Five Match #1 1 1964-10-14 Watanabe (JPN) decision, Ivanov (BUL) 1
1964 Summer 23 Tokyo Wrestling Japan JPN Round Four 1 1964-10-14 1
1964 Summer 23 Tokyo Wrestling Japan JPN Round Four Match #2 1 1964-10-14 Watanabe (JPN) decision, Schilling (GER) 1
1964 Summer 23 Tokyo Wrestling Japan JPN Round Three 1 1964-10-13 0
1964 Summer 23 Tokyo Wrestling Japan JPN Round Three Match #2 1 1964-10-13 Watanabe (JPN) fall (5:28), Romero (ARG) 0
1964 Summer 23 Tokyo Wrestling Japan JPN Round Two 1T 1964-10-12 0
1964 Summer 23 Tokyo Wrestling Japan JPN Round Two Match #2 1 1964-10-12 Watanabe (JPN) fall (1:26), Smith (ZAM) 0
1964 Summer 23 Tokyo Wrestling Japan JPN Round One 1T 1964-10-11 0
1964 Summer 23 Tokyo Wrestling Japan JPN Round One Match #1 1 1964-10-11 Watanabe (JPN) fall (1:12), Baldangiin (MGL) 0