2004 Athens

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General information on martial arts and self-defense.

Bronze is golden to Methuen’s Pedro (Boston.com)
by Tony Chamberlain
"Today I had to fight every single minute of the day. I fought the world champ, I fought the world’s silver medalist, and two of the guys I beat in the consolation round beat me last summer," said Pedro. "Those were very technical fights, and once I won those I was thinking, ‘Wow, I can get the bronze medal today.’" (Originally Published: 8/17/2004; Last DCTKD update: 8/22/2004)
South Korea’s Lee adds Olympic judo gold to world crown (channelnewsasia.com)
"South Korea’s Lee Won-Hee dumped Russian Vitaliy Makarov in the men’s under-73kg judo lightweight final to add Olympic gold to his world title as Japan’s medal charge screeched to a halt." (Originally Published: 8/16/2004; Last DCTKD update: 10/25/2004)
Muscle and Mayhem (The Washington Post)
Ferguson Takes No Holds Barred Pursuit of Judo Gold
by Eli Saslow
"Coaches think Ferguson might be in better shape than any other person in the world, and its easy to see why: At 5 feet 7, he weighs 225 pounds with just 5 percent body fat. He can squat 550 pounds, bench his weight 30 times and run the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds...To Paul Cotton, his Howard wrestling coach, Ferguson is ‘the closest thing this world will ever have to Superman’...And to Mike Barnes, ranked No. 2 in judo in the United States, Ferguson is ‘flat-out scary.’"

From a USOC Press Release, August 2004:
"Men 100kg (33 players)
Rhadi Ferguson, Colo. Springs, went 1-2 in his first appearance at the Olympics. Ferguson dominated Hasaba of Syria, and scored Ippon (Judo knockout) at 4:40 into the five-minute match. In the second round Rhadi lost to Jang of Korea, who advanced into the semifinal putting Rhadi in the consolation rounds, where he faced Franck Martial Moussima of Cameroon. Both players received penalties for passivity, but late in the match Moussima came in low and threw Rhadi for a Yuko score (quarter point) that proved to be the difference in the match. (Originally Published: 6/30/2004; Last DCTKD update: 8/22/2004)