Judo: Montreal Olympics gold medalist Sonoda dies at 79

FUKUOKA - Isamu Sonoda, a judo gold medalist at the 1976 Montreal Olympics who later coached popular female judoka Ryoko Tani to Olympic gold, died of pneumonia Thursday. He was 79.

Fukuoka Prefecture native Sonoda claimed the world championships in the middleweight (80-kilogram) division in 1969 as a university student before winning Olympic gold in the category in 1976 in Canada, where he thrived on his inner-thigh throw.