Masato Uchishiba, who won the gold medal in the men's 66-kg weight category at last summer's Athens Olympics, will compete in next month's All-Japan judo championships, judo sources said Tuesday.
Uchishiba's appearance at the open weight championships, getting under way at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo on April 29, will be the first by a wrestler in the 60s classes since Yoshiharu Minami took part 28 years ago.
The average weight of the wrestlers appearing at the championships is over 100-kg, but All Japan Judo Federation official Haruki Uemura hopes Uchishiba can show what he is made of against the heavyweights.