Rene Capo
{{Short description|American judoka (1961–2009)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox judoka
| name = Rene Capo
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| native_name = Rene Caposki
| birth_name = René Capo
| nationality = {{flag|United States}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1961|05|09}}
| birth_place = Pinar del Río, Cuba
| fighting_out_of =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2009|07|06|1961|05|09}}
| death_place = Chicago, Illinois, United States
| height = {{height|ft=6|in=1}}
| weight =
| weight_class = Heavyweight
| sport = Judo
| stance =
| team =
| trainer =
| years_active =
| other =
| occupation =
| spouse =
| children = 2
| relatives =
| students =
| alma_mater = University of Minnesota
| url =
| boxrec =
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| updated =
| medaltemplates = {{MedalSport | Men's Judo}}
{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|High School Nationals}}
{{MedalGold | 1977 Yale | Heavyweight}}
{{MedalGold | 1979 Rogers | Heavyweight}}
{{MedalCompetition|Pacific Rim Championships}}
{{MedalGold | 1987 Colorado Springs | Heavyweight}}
{{MedalCompetition|US Olympic Trials}}
{{MedalGold | 1988 Colorado Springs | Heavyweight}}
{{MedalGold | 1996 Colorado Springs | Heavyweight}}
{{MedalCompetition|United States Senior Nationals}}
{{MedalGold | 1989 Tampa | -86 kg}}
{{MedalGold | 1991 Honolulu | -95 kg}}
{{MedalSilver | 1997 Ft. Lauderdale | +95 kg}}
{{MedalCompetition|Finnish Open}}
{{MedalSilver | 1995 | Heavyweight}}
}}
Rene Capo (May 9, 1961 – July 6, 2009) was a judoka from the United States who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1996 Summer Olympics.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2009-07-07-2152177637_x.htm|title=Judo Olympian Capo dies at 48|last=Associated Press|author-link=Associated Press|date=7 July 2009|work=USA Today|publisher=Gannett Company|accessdate=8 July 2009}} Capo immigrated to the United States from Cuba as a young boy. Though he won several judo championships in high school, Capo took a four-year break from the sport to attend the University of Minnesota. After college, Capo went on to qualify for two United States Olympics teams, could not compete as an alternate in another due to a back injury, and narrowly missed making the 2008 team. In 2008, Capo was diagnosed with lung cancer, which caused his death the following year.
Early life
Capo immigrated to the United States from Pinar del Río, Cuba in 1962, when he was still an infant, and grew up in Hialeah, Florida. He learned Judo as a member of Florida Judo Kai, under the tutelage of Cuban Champion Reinaldo Montpellier.{{cite news|url=http://www.univision.com/contentroot/wirefeeds/30deportes/mas/7990798.html|title=Fallece judoca cubano-estadounidense René Capo|date=7 July 2009|work=Univision|language=Spanish|accessdate=9 July 2009}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}} After graduating from Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School{{cite news|title=Hialeah's Rene Capo, a two-time Olympian and judo champ, dies at 48|last=Quinones|first=David|date=8 July 2009|work=The Miami Herald|publisher=The McClatchy Company}} He attended the University of Minnesota, where he played defensive tackle for the Golden Gophers from 1979 to 1982,{{cite news|url=http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/50178737.html?elr=KArksc8P:Pc:UthPacyPE7iUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU|title=U nose tackle became judo champ|last=Youngblood|first=Kent|date=8 July 2009|work=Star Tribune|publisher=Avista Capital Partners|accessdate=9 July 2009}}{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} sharing a team record with four sacks.
Judo career
=Amateur competition=
At the age of six, Capo competed in his first judo competition, and had won his first tournament by nine. By the time of his graduation, Capo had earned a national high school gold medal, and won the silver medal at the United States Senior Nationals.
=Professional career=
After a four-year break from Judo in which he focused on football and college, Capo won a gold medal at the 1987 Pacific Rim Championships. A year later, he upset a number of highly ranked heavyweights at the US Judo Olympic Trials. At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, Capo finished 19th. Capo qualified as the alternate for the 1992 Summer Olympics, but was unable to compete due to severe neck injury. After having surgery on two vertebrae, he made it to the 1996 Summer Olympics, where he was eliminated the first day. From 2005 to 2007, Capo taught judo at the Jason Morris Judo Center in Glenville.{{cite news|url=http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=817743&category=SPORTS|title=Judo Olympian Capo dies|last=Singelais|first=Mark|date=8 July 2009|work=Times Union|publisher=Hearst Corporation|accessdate=9 July 2009}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}} He narrowly missed qualifying for the 2008 Summer Olympics, losing to his own student, Kyle Vashkulat. At the 2008 USA Judo Senior National Championships one month later, Capo placed fifth.
Cancer
In 2008, Capo, a non-smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer, from which he died on July 6, 2009, in Chicago, Illinois. At the time, he lived in Naperville, Illinois,{{cite news|url=http://cbs4.com/wireapsportsfl/Braylon.Edwards.Dwyane.2.1074643.html |title=Latest Florida Sports |last=Associated Press |author-link=Associated Press |date=7 July 2009 |work=WFOR-TV |publisher=CBS |accessdate=7 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090717120723/http://cbs4.com/wireapsportsfl/Braylon.Edwards.Dwyane.2.1074643.html |archivedate=July 17, 2009 }} where he had moved to earn money selling magazine subscriptions to schools.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Sports links}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capo, Rene}}
Category:American football defensive tackles
Category:Cuban emigrants to the United States
Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Illinois
Category:Judoka at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Category:Judoka at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Category:Minnesota Golden Gophers football players
Category:Olympic judoka for the United States
Category:Sportspeople from Naperville, Illinois