Former world champion and Atlanta Olympic silver medalist Yukimasa Nakamura will retire and launch a new career as a judo coach, Japanese judo officials said Saturday.
Nakamura, the second of the three brothers who competed at the 1996 Atlanta Games, will call it quits from competitive judo after the national weight-class invitational tournament in April.
The All-Japan Judo Federation has recommended the 29-year-old Fukuoka native for an overseas training program for would-be coaches, which is sponsored by the Japanese Olympic Committee.
Nakamura won the silver medal in the 65-kg class in Atlanta three years after winning the World Championship.
Meanwhile, two-time Olympic medalist Noriko Narazaki said she will stay away from top-level competition indefinitely with an eye to becoming a judo coach although she has refused to call it "retirement."