NEW YORK, (Reuters) – The “Mother of Judo” waited 50 years to get the gold medal that was snatched from her in her first serious competition, a gender injustice that fuelled Rusty Kanokogi’s winning crusade for women’s judo in the Olympics.
The gruff, plain talking Kanokogi who has received praise and recognition from the government of Japan, the International Judo Federation and International Women’s Hall of Fame, was denied the prize at a YMCA tournament for being a woman.
“This should never, never happen to a woman again in sports,” Kanokogi said about the rage she felt back in 1959.
