Anton Geesink from Utrecht wrote Olympic history on October 23, 1964. In Tokyo, judo made its debut on the Olympic agenda and as to be expected, all gold medals went out to the Japanese.
In the free category the final was between the best Japanese judoka of all times, Akio Kaminaga, and Anton Geesink from the Netherlands. A very exciting battle developed before the eyes of the 17000 Japanese fans. After ten minutes Geesink managed to punish a small Kaminaga mistake. With a fast combination he put his opponent in a hold.
Some enthusiastic supporters wanted to celebrate this gold medal immediately, but one gesture of Geesink's mighty arm was sufficient to prevent that. Entering the judo arena is forbidden because it humiliates the defeated opponent. The Japanese crowd appreciated the gesture and showed this by a huge applause.
Nowadays, Geesink is official for the IOC.