Michael's Story
Michael Young emerged as one of Australia’s leading lightweight judokas during the late 1970s. Born in 1958, he won an Oceania junior title in 1975 before establishing himself at senior level. Young collected six Australian championship titles across the 65kg and 71kg divisions between 1977 and 1984.
Young was 22 when he made his Olympic debut in the men’s 65kg division at Moscow 1980. He won his opening contest before being eliminated in the second round, finishing equal 13th. His selection made him one of three Australian judokas to compete at those Games.
Four years later, Young returned to Olympic competition in the men’s 71kg division at Los Angeles 1984. He was eliminated by Taiwan’s Liaw Der-cheng in his opening contest and placed equal 19th. Young continued competing after the Games and won the 71kg title at the 1985 Oceania championships in Auckland.
