Politicians
- Ben Nighthorse Campbell (U.S. Senator for Colorado, 1993–2005): Campbell won three U.S. national championships and a gold medal at the 1963 Pan American Games judo competition. He was captain of the U.S. judo team in the 1964 Summer Olympics, and was chosen to carry the American flag during the closing ceremonies.
- William Hague (leader of the Conservative Party in the UK, 1997–2001): long-standing practitioner at the Budokwai in London. Judo is credited for transforming him from a "weak indecisive" "bit of a weed" into an "action man".
- Pierre Trudeau (former Prime Minister of Canada, 1968–1979 and 1980–1984): 2nd dan black belt, Takahashi School of Martial Arts in Ottawa.
- Vladimir Putin (Russian President, 2000–2008 and 2012–; Russian Prime Minister, 2008–2012): Putin was awarded 8th dan in 2012 and became the first Russian to have been awarded the eighth dan, joining a handful of judo fighters in the world who have achieved such status. Putin was awarded 7th dan in 2009 and 6th dan (prestigious red & white belt) at the Kodokan in 2000. In the 1970s, he was awarded a Master of Sports in both judo and sambo. Putin has described judo as "my favorite sport", and he continues to practice it. In 2004 he co-authored a book about judo, published in Russian as Judo with Vladimir Putin and in English as Judo: History, Theory, Practice. The book has now been made into a film called Judo with Vladimir Putin. Here is a short video clip of Putin executing a throw.
- Theodore Roosevelt (US President 1901–1909): Roosevelt was the first world leader to learn judo, and the first American to reach brown belt. A very keen judoka, he took lessons up to three times a week from judo's first-ever 10th dan, Yamashita Yoshiaki. Roosevelt was instrumental in appointing Yamashita to teach judo at the US Naval Academy.
- Ulla Werbrouck (Belgian politician, 2007–): Olympic gold medalist and six-time European champion.
- Angela Merkel Chancellor of Germany is not a black belt judoka, as often misleadingly stated, although her political style sometimes is called the Judo method.
Read more about this topic: List Of Celebrity Judoka
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