Antonius "Anton" Johannes Geesink (April 6, 1934 – August 27, 2010) was a Dutch 10th-Dan judoka. He was a three-time World Judo Champion (1961, 1964 and 1965) and Olympic Gold Medalist (1964). He was 6'6" (1.98m) tall and at one time weighted 320 pounds (145 kg). He was born in Utrecht.

Judo career

Geesink first participated in the European Championships in 1951, and placed second in his category. The following year, he won his first European title. Through to 1967, twenty more European titles followed.

At the 1961 World Championships, Geesink became World Champion in the open class, defeating the Japanese champion. Japanese judokas had won all the World Championship titles contested up to that point.

Judo debuted as an official sport at the 1964 Summer Olympics, which were held in the sport's home country, Japan. Although Japan dominated three of the four weight divisions (light, middle and heavy), Anton Geesink won the final of the open weight division, defeating Akio Kaminaga in front of his home crowd.

After winning the 1965 World Championships and a last European title in 1967, Geesink quit competitive judo.

Anton Geesink was one of the few living 10th Dan grade judoka (judan) recognized by the IJF (but not by Kodokan). Promotions from 6th to 10th Dan are awarded for services to the sport of judo. In 2010 there are 3 living 10th dan judan recognized by Kodokan: Toshiro Daigo, Ichiro Abe and Yoshimi Osawa. The Kodokan has not awarded the 10th Dan to anybody outside of Japan.

Professional wrestling career

In October 1973, All Japan Pro Wrestling owner Giant Baba recruited Anton Geesink to join AJPW. Baba sent him to Amarillo, TX and Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk trained him for a month. He worked for All Japan from 1973 to 1978, as a popular part-timer.

Geesink's notable professional wrestling opponents included Bruno Sammartino, Gorilla Monsoon, Dick Murdoch, Dory Funk Jr., Bob Remus (Sgt. Slaughter), and Jumbo Tsuruta.

International Olympic Committee work

In 1987, he became a member of the board of the Dutch National Olympic Committee, and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Geesink was among the IOC members suspected of accepting bribes during the scandal surrounding the election of Salt Lake City as the host of the 2002 Winter Olympics. Geesink's name was cleared by the IOC which nevertheless issued him a warning for the appearance of a conflict of interest which could have damaged the reputation of the IOC.

Honors

Geesink was awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Japanese government.^[3]

His home town of Utrecht has a street named after him — which is the street he lived on for sometime up until his death in August of 2010.

Death

In the television show 'Voetbal International' his death was announced by Johan Derksen. Anton's son called him half an hour before the live broadcast of the television show. Anton spent around 3 weeks in intensive care before he died.