Toshihiko Koga (古賀 稔彦, Koga Toshihiko, 21 November 1967 – 24 March 2021[2]) was a Japanese judoka, 9th degree black belt and Olympic champion who competed in the –71 kg and –78 kg divisions.[3] Koga is regarded as having perhaps the greatest ippon seoi nage ever. He died of cancer on 24 March 2021 at the age of 53.
Koga briefly retired from competitive judo after his victory at the Olympics, but made his return with a gold medal at the 1995 World Judo Championships in Chiba, Japan. He suffered a surprising defeat by ippon in a qualification match for the 1996 Summer Olympics, but was chosen as the representative anyway because of his past experience in the Olympic games. He ended his third appearance at the Olympics with a silver medal in the -78 kg division.
Koga announced his final retirement from competition in 2000, and became the head coach for the All-Japan women's judo team. In April 2003, he founded the Koga Juku, a judo school for young children, in Takatsu-ku, Kawasaki. One of his pupils, Ayumi Tanimoto, won the gold medal in the -63 kg division at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He became the head coach of the International Pacific University's judo team (located in Akaiwa, Okayama) in April 2007, and has enjoyed celebrity status in Japan as an 8th dan rank[5] holder in judo, appearing on several national television shows.
One day before his death he was promoted to the rank of 9th dan by the Kodokan.[1]
