Judo at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games:

Ruben Houkes of the Netherlands was favored, having won the 2007 World Championship and as a medalist at the 2005, 2006, and 2008 Europeans. He would eventually win a bronze medal. The #1 seed was Ludwig Paischer of Austria, medalist at the last two World Championships. He made it to the final, where he faced Korea’s Choi Min-Ho. Choi won the gold medal, defeating Paischer with ippon in 2:14. In his pool final, Choi had needed only four seconds to win by ippon over Ruben Houkes of the Netherlands. Houkes had also been considered a favorite, having won the 2007 World Championship and having won a medal at the 2005, 2006, and 2008 Europeans, and he would win a bronze medal in Beijing. The other bronze went to Uzbeki Rishod Sobirov, the runner-up at the 2007 Asian Championships.