Terry Farnsworth

Canadian judoka

Terry Farnsworth

Personal information

National team|  Canada
Born|  (1942-08-27) 27 August 1942 (age 81)
Portland, Maine, United States
Alma mater| Chuo University
Height| 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Weight| 91 kg (201 lb)[1]
Sport
Country|  Canada
Sport| Judo
Weight class| 93 kg; half-heavyweight
Achievements and titles
National finals| Canadian U-93 Judo Champion (1972, 1973)

Medal record

Judo
Representing  Canada
Maccabiah Games
|  1969 Israel | Men's 93 kg
|  1973 Israel | Men's 93 kg

Terry Farnsworth (born 27 August 1942) is a Canadian former Olympic judoka. He won a Canadian national judo championship in 1972 and 1973, competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics, and won a gold medal at the 1969 Maccabiah Games and a silver medal at the 1973 Maccabiah Games in Israel.

## Biography[edit]

Farnsworth was born in Portland, Maine, and is Jewish.[1][2] He graduated high school and attended two years of a pre-college program in Canada, and then lived in Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan, from the ages of 20 to 26 years old.[3] There, he studied at Chuo University.[3][4] He has lived in Bois-des-Filion, Canada.[5]

### Judo career[edit]

Farnsworth earned a black belt in judo in Montreal, and then moved to Tokyo to practice judo.[3][6]

At the 1969 Maccabiah Games in Israel, Farnsworth won a gold medal in the light-heavyweight class.[7][8] He won the 1972 Canadian Championships U-93 in Halifax, Canada.[9][10]

Farnsworth competed in the men's half-heavyweight event at the 1972 Summer Olympics, coming in 7th.[9][11][12] He defeated Imre Varga (Hungary) and José Ibáñez Gómez (Cuba), but lost to eventual bronze medal winner Paul Barth (Germany) and European Judo Champion Helmut Howiller (Germany).[13]

He described his experience during the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Olympics by members of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September, who had infiltrated the Olympic Village:

> I was 50 feet away. I saw ... the Arab with the mask, standing on the balcony. I saw the guy. I mean, we had to run underneath where the Israelis were, and one of my buddies had an Israeli friend, went to visit him, and he came back at 1:30 in the morning, and the terrorists came in at about 3:00. So he was an hour and a half away from being dead himself. That was horrible. We were 50 feet away from the whole thing. One interesting story was, separating us was the Korean housing, and when it first happened, I walked down to the Korean apartments, and I saw the door open in one apartment. I see a Korean guy sitting in the window with his rifle, facing the Arabs or where the Israelis were held. He told me he was an ex-American Marine, but he was a Korean citizen. He was on the rifle team. He said, “I’m going to get one of those f*cking Arabs!” ... But they came and took his rifle away![3]

Farnsworth won the 1973 Canadian Championships U-93 in Whitehorse, Canada.[9]

At the 1973 Maccabiah Games in Israel, Farnsworth was the flag carrier for Team Canada.[2] He won a silver medal in the light-heavyweight competition, losing in the finals to American Olympian Irwin Cohen.[14][15]

### Film career[edit]

Farnsworth had roles in a few movies, including a small part in Walk, Don't Run (1966), an American comedy starring Cary Grant, and a part in The Drifting Avenger (1968), a Japanese Western film shot in Australia.[3] He also acted in the Japanese tokusatsu science fiction television series Ultraseven (1967-68).[3]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c "Terry Farnsworth". Olympedia.
2. ^ a b "Markswoman wins five medals". The Canadian Jewish News. 3 August 1973. p. 7.
3. ^ a b c d e f Homenick, Brett (18 February 2016). "From 'Ultra Seven' to The Olympics! Terry Farnsworth on His Acting Career in Japan and Beyond!".
4. ^ "Black Belt". Active Interest Media, Inc. 25 November 1966 - via Google Books.
5. ^ "Terry Farnsworth". olympic.ca. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
6. ^ "Memories of Seidokwan". Seidokwan Academy of Judo. 1992.
7. ^ "Tourney results," Judo Illustrated, Volumes 4-5, 1970.
8. ^ "The Eight Maccabiah Announces Judo Winners". Black Belt. Active Interest Media, Inc. 25 December 1969 - via Google Books.
9. ^ a b c "Terry Farnsworth Judoka". JudoInside.
10. ^ Anthony Diao (11 May 2021). "The transpacific judo of Yoshihiro Uchida and Hiroshi Nakamura".
11. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Terry Farnsworth Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
12. ^ "Terry Farnsworth". IJF.org.
13. ^ "Half-Heavyweight (≤93 kilograms), Men". Olympedia.
14. ^ "U.S., Israel Win 12 Medals Each". The New York Times. 11 July 1973.
15. ^ Jack Murray (25 December 1973). "US Dominates Judo at Maccabiah Games". Black Belt. Active Interest Media, Inc. - via Google Books.

## External links[edit]

* Terry Farnsworth at Olympedia
* Terry Farnsworth at IMDb