judoka

noun ju·do·ka \ ˈjü-dō-ˌkä , ˌjü-dō-ˈkä \

|Updated on: 15 Jun 2018

Definition of judoka

plural judoka or judokas

: one who participates in judo

Recent Examples of judoka from the Web

Abe's uncle, Tadahiro Nomura, is the only judoka in history to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals.

— henry young, CNN, "Uta Abe: The poster girl of Tokyo 2020 that's still at high school," 27 Apr. 2018
Essentially unbeatable between 1999 and 2003, the half-heavyweight judoka won three world titles and Olympic gold, placing him among the greatest of all time.

— henry young, CNN, "Legends of Judo: Kosei Inoue, Olympic champion and Japanese supercoach," 24 Jan. 2018
After toppling Brazil's David Moura in Saturday's +100kg final, heavyweight judoka Teddy Riner now boasts nine world titles and a run of 134 consecutive victories.

— henry young, CNN, "2017 Judo World Championships: Five things we learned," 5 Sep. 2017
Kosei Inoue is a judoka who has followed up a formidable career by becoming coach of the Japanese national team.

— CNN, "Kosei Inoue: 'Judo is similar to life itself; you get thrown and you stand up again'," 2 Oct. 2017
RIO DE JANEIRO — An Egyptian judoka declined to shake hands with his Israeli opponent after their match on Friday, eliciting jeers from the crowd.

— victor mather, New York Times, "Egyptian Judo Athlete Refuses Handshake After Losing to Israeli," 12 Aug. 2016
Alistair Overeem also stopped Mark Hunt in the third round of an entertaining heavyweight bout at T-Mobile Arena, and Rashad Evans debuted at middleweight with a split-decision upset loss to 39-year-old Australian judoka Daniel Kelly.

— greg beacham, The Denver Post, "Tyron Woodley edges Stephen Thompson, keeps belt in dull fight at UFC 209," 5 Mar. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'judoka.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.