Wim Ruska

Willem "Wim" Ruska (29 August 1940 – 14 February 2015) was a judoka from the Netherlands. He is the only athlete to win two gold medals in Judo in one Olympics – in the heavyweight and absolute categories in 1972.[1]

Wim Ruska
Wim Ruska in 1968
Personal information
Full nameWillem Ruska
Nickname(s)Tarzan of the Tatami
Born(1940-08-29)29 August 1940
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Died14 February 2015(2015-02-14) (aged 74)
Height1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight94 kg (207 lb)
Sport
SportJudo
Medal record
Representing the  Netherlands
Olympic Games
1972 Munich +93 kg
1972 Munich Open
World Championships
1967 Salt Lake City +93 kg
1971 Ludwigshafen +93 kg
1969 Mexico City Open

Judo career

He started learning judo at the Dutch Navy, later traveling to Japan for further training. In the 1960s and 1970s, under the training of Jon Bluming,[2] he won seven European titles, five in the +93 kg category (1966–67, 1969, 1971–72) and two in the open category (1969 and 1972).[3] He furthermore won two world titles (1967 and 1971) and two Olympic titles.[4] His success at the 1972 Summer Olympics was overshadowed by the Munich massacre that took place days before.[5]

He retired after the 1972 Olympics[1] and later took part in professional wrestling.

Professional wrestling career

Ruska competed between 1976 and 1980 for the New Japan Pro Wrestling and World Wrestling Federation promotions. He had over 150 pro wrestling matches, in some of which he was the tag team partner of fellow judoka Allen Coage.[6]

Match with Ivan Gomes

In 1976, during a tour through Brazil, Ruska was slated to fight a special, high-level bout against Ivan Gomes, fellow NJPW wrestler and famous vale tudo fighter, on August 7 at the Maracanã Stadium. Previous negotiations about the match's results and length were troublesome, and as a result, there was tension between the parts.

During the bout, refereed by Mr. Takahashi, Gomes raked Ruska's eye with a palm strike, which Ruska answered by landing a punching combination, and the match became a shoot right after. The Brazilian, who enjoyed a 15kg weight advantage, dragged Ruska to the ground with a guillotine choke, but Ruska escaped and mounted him. After becoming entangled with the ring ropes, a bloody Gomes captured Ruska's back and tried a rear naked choke, to which Ruska grabbed the ropes to signal Takahashi to break action. The Brazilian refused to release Ruska, but the referee, upon observing most of his body was outside the ropes, called for countout in order to end the match at 9:03.[7] There was controversy about whether the choke was effective or not.[8][9]

The event's crowds believed Gomes had been wronged with the decision, and a riot almost broke out until Inoki came out and calmed them down. Still, repercussion in Brazil was negative, with viewers commenting Ruska should be considered the victor, even although some acknowledged he had started the affair with an illegal move.[10] As a consequence, the Athletic Commission of Rio de Janeiro banned Takahashi and Ruska from all sport competitions.[11] The Japanese disagreed, as Gomes had to be hospitalized and received nine stitches for damage suffered in the brawl while Ruska was in much better condition,[12] and it was reported NJPW president Antonio Inoki secretly gifted Ruska a money bonus to compensate his ban from competing.[11] A 90 seconds excerpt on the brawl was shown in NJPW's TV show, World Pro Wrestling.[13]

Late career

Ruska was a close friend to sambo world champion Chris Dolman, also a Bluming understudy. They had a falling out after Dolman joined Akira Maeda's Fighting Network Rings while Ruska was part of Antonio Inoki's New Japan Pro Wrestling, but they mended it in September 1997, when Inoki visited Holland along with Naoya Ogawa. They stayed in contact until Ruska's death in 2015.[14]

Later life

In 2001 Ruska suffered a major stroke which left him physically disabled.[1]

In 2013 he was inducted in the Hall of Fame of the International Judo Federation.[15]

Ruska was admitted to a nursing home in 2014. Ruska died on 14 February 2015 at the age of 74 and was survived by his wife, two children and five grandchildren.[16]

  • Ruska in 1968
  • Ruska with family in 1972

References
  1. Ruska. Triomf en tragiek van een judokampioen Archived 14 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine. thomasrap.nl
  2. Donn F. Draeger, Jon Bluming, Letters to the Editor, Black Belt magazine, December 1966
  3. Obtained results (dutch). Wimruska.nl. Retrieved on 16 November 2012.
  4. Wim Ruska. sports-reference.com
  5. "Wim Ruska op 74-jarige leeftijd overleden" (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad. 14 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  6. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Matches « Willem Ruska « Wrestler-Datenbank « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database".
  7. Keisuke Shibusawa, Gracie Jiu Jitsu no Itsusashu, 1995, Nihon Sports
  8. Ken Yanagisawa, 1976 Antonio Inoki, 2007
  9. Ivan Gomes, BJJ Heroes
  10. Marcial Serrano (15 June 2016). O Livro Proibido do Jiu-Jítsu Vol. 6. Clube de Autores. ISBN 978-85-914075-8-3.
  11. Shinji Ishii, Martial Arts Death Battle - The stormy story of the fools who wanted to be the strongest, Takarajimasha, 1994
  12. Keishuke Shibusawa, Mat World Scandal, 2006
  13. The Fierce! History of Violence in Matches (壮絶！喧嘩マッチ烈伝) DVD box
  14. "ウィリアム・ルスカとクリス・ドールマンの物語～日本マット界に多大な影響、大親友としての別離と氷解 - プロレス/格闘技 カクトウログ".
  15. "Judolegende Wim Ruska overleden" (in Dutch). de Telegraaf. 14 February 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  16. "JUDO NEWS: THE GREAT DUTCH JUDO CHAMPION WILLEM "WIM" RUSKA HAS PASSED AWAY".
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