Koga was the heavy favorite at the Barcelona Games but during randori practice with Olympic gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida a few days before his contest, Koga seriously injured his knee. The medics injected him with cortisone (which was permitted under Olympic rules), allowing him to fight. He introduced a brand new technique, tomoe-nage, which no one had seen him use before. He also managed to use his trademark seoi-nage despite the bad knee. By the time the finals came around, the injury had taken its toll and he had to rely on judges’ decision to win. He was immediately flown back to Japan for a knee operation.
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