Japanese judoka Keiji Suzuki, who won the over 100-kg gold medal at the Athens Olympics, has undergone surgery on his left elbow and will be sidelined for about two months, Japan national coach Hitoshi Saito said Thursday.

Saito said Suzuki, who had complained of acute elbow pain since mid-November, had surgery to remove bone chips on Tuesday and is expected to resume training in February. Suzuki will miss the Kano Cup international tournament on Jan. 9 and skip a tour of European meets scheduled between January and March. The national invitational weight-class championships on April 3 will likely be the first tournament for Suzuki to appear in after coming back from the injury-forced layoff, Saito said.