Osamu Watanabe

Osamu Watanabe

Osamu Watanabe at the 1964 Olympics
Personal information
Born	(1940-10-21)October 21, 1940 Wassamu, Hokkaido, Japan
Died	October 1, 2022(2022-10-01) (aged 81) Tokyo, Japan
Alma mater	Chuo University[1]
Height	1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Weight	63 kg (139 lb)
Sport
Sport	Freestyle wrestling
Medal record Representing  Japan Olympic Games 1964 Tokyo 63 kg World Championships 1962 Toledo 63 kg 1963 Sofia 63 kg Asian Games 1962 Jakarta 63 kg

Osamu Watanabe (渡辺 長武, Watanabe Osamu; October 21, 1940 – October 1, 2022) was a Japanese freestyle wrestler. In 1962, he debuted internationally and was the reigning world champion, when he capped off his career with a gold medal for Japan in freestyle wrestling at the 1964 Olympics, retiring from competition shortly afterwards as the only undefeated Olympic champion to date at 189–0.^[2][3] He is considered one of the best wrestlers in Olympic history.^[4]

In the early 2000s Watanabe resumed competing internationally in the masters category.^[5] He died of a heart attack on October 1, 2022.^[6]

References

1. Osamu Watanabe at the Encyclopædia Britannica
2. Tomizawa, Roy (2 July 2015). "Osamu "Animal" Watanabe – 189 Straight Victories in Wrestling". The Olympians from 1964 to 2020. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2025.
3. The numbers vary from 187 to 300+ (Britannica)
4. "FLAWLESS WATANABE SECURES FEATHERWEIGHT WRESTLING GOLD". olympic.org. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
5. Osamu Watanabe. ssf.or.jp
6. 渡辺長武さんが死去、心臓発作で 64年東京五輪金メダリスト レスリング協会発表 (in Japanese)