page_title: Anthony Clarke (judoka)
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Anthony Clarke (judoka) / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Australian vision impaired judoka Anthony Clarke (bearded) in a bout on his way to the gold medal in the 95kg class at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games
context_page_description: Anthony "Tony" Laurence Clarke, OAM, is the only Australian Paralympic judoka gold medallist. He represented Australia at five Summer Paralympic Games and medalled at the 1993 Australian National Judo Championships competing against sighted opponents.
context_section_description: In 1993 Clarke achieved his first career win against a sighted opponent at the Australian National Judo Championships. He secured a place in the Under 95 kg semi-final, a first for blind judo competitors, and was awarded a bronze medal.
  Four years after judo was introduced to the Summer Paralympic Games, Clarke represented Australia in the Men's Up To 78kg event at the 1992 Summer Paralympics in Barcelona. He was the first of two Australian judoka to compete at the Games (the other was Desiree Allan). He lost to Brett Lewis (USA), Joel Gichtenaere (FRA) and Javier Sainz (ESP) by ippon, waza-ari and koka in the Group A preliminaries.
  At the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, Clarke received a gold medal in the Men's Up To 95kg event, becoming the first Australian Paralympic competitor to medal in judo. He defeated Arlindo Tinoco (BRA) by ippon in the quarter-final, Fermin Campos Ariza (ESP) by yuko in the semi-final, and Run Ming Men (CHN) by ippon in the final.
  
  Between 1996 and 2000, Clarke held a scholarship with the Australian Institute of Sport. He was an official torch bearer at the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games in Sydney in 2000 and competed in the Men's Up To 90kg event. He was defeated by ippon in the 1/8 final by Ian Rose (GBR).
  At the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Clarke competed in the Men's Up To 90kg event, but was defeated by Oleg Kretsul (RUS) by ippon in the quarter-final.
  In December 2006 Clarke accused the Oceania Judo Union of violating the Disability Discrimination Act (1975) by excluding him from its 2005 World Tournament and effectively costing him his place in the 2008 Australian Olympic team. He sought from the Federal Magistrates Court $31,440 (AUD) in compensation. The application was discontinued following mediation and a confidential settlement.
  At the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games in Beijing, Oleg Kretsul (RUS) again defeated Clarke by ippon in the quarter-final of the Men's Up To 90kg event.
  He retired in 2008.
caption: Anthony Clarke and Fermin Campos Ariza competing in the Men's Up To 95kg semi-final at the 1996 Summer Paralympic Games in Atlanta.
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