British judoka (born 1964)
Neil Eckersley (born 5 April 1964) is a retired judoka from the United Kingdom, who represented Great Britain at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.[1][2] There he won a bronze medal in the men's extra-lightweight division (–60 kg), alongside USA's Edward "Ed" Liddie.[3]
Judo career
In 1986, he won the silver medal in the 60kg weight category at the judo demonstration sport event as part of the 1986 Commonwealth Games.[4]
Bronze Olympic medallist.[5] Olympic British team captain. European medallist. Placed seventh at the world Championships. Winning a bronze medal in the light-weight division (-60 kg) of the 1987 Matsutarō Shoriki cup in Tokyo[6] likely made Eckersley to become the first British male judoka to win a medal during a major international tournament held in Japan. Since December 2014 Eckersley has held the rank of 7th dan awarded by the British Judo Association and International judo Federation.[7] Eckersley holds a Diploma in Sports Coaching from Herriott Watt University in Edinburgh, and in 2005 completed a Bachelor of Arts (Hon.) degree in Sports Studies at St. Martins College, Lancaster, today known as the University of Cumbria. In 2015, Eckersley with IJF 7 Dan certificates on Day 1 of the British Open.[8]
Eckersley is a judo instructor and from 2014 he has been head of the regional program in Judoregion West in Norway and club coach in Sandnes Judo Club.
Eckersley is a painter and digital artist and member of Art of the Olympians (AOTO).[9]
References
External links