Matt D'Aquino
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Matthew D'Aquino |
| Nationality |
 Australia |
| Born |
26 June 1985 Canberra, Australia |
| Height | 1.64 m (5 ft 4 1⁄2 in) |
| Weight | 62 kg (137 lb) |
| Website | www.beyondgrappling.com |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Judo |
| Event(s) | 60 kg |
| Club | Beyond Grappling Club |
| Coached by | Thomas Hill |
| Retired | 2012 |
| Now coaching | Oceania Education Director |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Regional finals | 3 X Oceania Champion |
| National finals | 2 X Australian Champion |
| Highest world ranking | 19th in the World (2010) |
Matthew D'Aquino (born 26 June 1985 in Canberra) is an Australian judoka, who competed in the extra-lightweight category.[1] He is a two-time Australian judo champion, a multiple-time Oceanian champion for his respective division, and a member of Marist Judo Club under his personal coach Tom Hill, who competed for the men's lightweight division at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, and eventually won the gold medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England.[2][3]
D'Aquino represented Australia at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he competed for the men's extra-lightweight class (60 kg). He received a bye for the second preliminary round match, before losing out to Greece's Lavrentios Alexanidis, who successfully scored an ippon (full point) and an obi otoshi (belt drop), at ninety seconds.[4][5]
Since then D'Aquino has gone on to be the first and only Australian male to win the Pac Rim Championships in its 40-year history, beating a highly ranked Japanese Judoka in the final.[6] Recently D'Aquino has placed 17th at the World Championships in both 2009 and 2010 as well as placing 7th in the Miami and El Salvador World Cup as well as 7th place in the US Open.
After not qualifying for the 2012 London Olympic Games D'Aquino retired from international Judo competition but still competes in national level Brazilian Jiujitsu competitions. D'Aquino is also an author of two bestselling books on Amazon, these books are "Hard fought Lessons by an Olympic Judoka" and "Effective goal setting so you can win in life."
References
- ↑ "Matthew D'Aquino". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
- ↑ "Tom Hill". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
- ↑ Burnett, Mike (31 July 2002). "Pekli edges to victory". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
- ↑ "Men's Extra Lightweight (60kg/132 lbs) Preliminaries". NBC Olympics. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
- ↑ "No early joy for Australia's judo competitors". ABC Australia. 9 August 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
- ↑ | http://www.judoinside.com/event/view/5462/