Ryan Birch (5 April 1969[1] – 19 March 2013) was a British judoka, representing Great Britain in two Olympic Games.[2]
Biography
Birch was born in Kingston upon Hull. In 1991, he won the first of his two championships of Great Britain, winning the half-middleweight division at the British Judo Championships.[3] The following year he was selected by Great Britain for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, where he competed in the men's 78 kg event.[4]
In 1998, he became a champion of Great Britain for the second time after winning the title at the heavier weight class of middleweight.[3]
He married Rowena Sweatman (who also won the European judo gold medal in 1994) and had two children. On retiring from sport, he went on to become a pilot.He was killed in a road accident in The Bahamas.[6]
