Matt D'Aquino
Matthew D'Aquino (born 26 June 1985 in Canberra) is an Australian judoka, who competed in the extra-lightweight category.[1] He is a 4th Degree Judo Black belt, BJJ black belt under Felipe Grez, 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]
Personal information | |
---|---|
Full name | Matthew D'Aquino |
Nickname(s) | Matt |
Nationality | Australia |
Born | Canberra, Australia | 26 June 1985
Height | 1.64 m (5 ft 4 1⁄2 in) |
Weight | 62 kg (137 lb) |
Website | www.beyondgrappling.com |
Sport | |
Sport | Judo & Brazilian Jiujitsu |
Event(s) | 60 kg |
Club | Beyond Grappling Club |
Coached by | Thomas Hill |
Retired | 2012 |
Now coaching | Beyond Grappling Club |
Achievements and titles | |
Regional finals | 3 X Oceania Champion |
National finals | 2 X Australian Champion |
Olympic finals | No place |
Highest world ranking | 19th in the World (2010) |
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 jiu-jitsu 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."
Bibliography
- Hard Fought Lessons: by an Olympic Judoka (2014) ISBN 978-1503151932
- Effective goal setting: so you can win at life Kindle Edition ASIN B00LXUJ05C
- My First Judo Competition (Australian edition) (2020) ISBN 978-0648965305
- My First Judo Competition (English edition) (2020) ISBN 979-8606278305
- My First Judo Competition (French edition) (2020) ISBN 979-8641157085
- My First Judo Competition (Spanish edition) (2020) ISBN 979-8646069673
- My First Judo Competition (German edition) (2020) ISBN 979-8647590848
- My First Judo Competition (Portuguese edition) (2020) ISBN 979-8646075902
- My First Brazilian Jiujitsu Competition (Australian edition) (2020) ISBN 978-0648965312
- My First Brazilian Jiujitsu Competition (English edition) (2020) ISBN 979-8627822587
- My First Brazilian Jiujitsu Competition (Italian edition) (2020) ISBN 979-8552384952
- History of Judo for Kids (Australian edition) (2020) ISBN 978-0648965329
- History of Judo for Kids (English edition) (2020) ISBN 979-8679358867
- History of Judo for Kids (Portuguese edition) (2020) ISBN 979-8553980597
- History of Judo for Kids (Spanish Edition) (2020) ISBN 979-8567197417
- History of Judo for Kids (French edition) (2020) ISBN 979-8552465514
- History of Judo for Kids (German edition) (2020) ISBN 979-8553988333
Bilingual Books:
- History of Judo for Kids (English/Spanish edition) (2020) ISBN 979-8569225040
- History of Judo for Kids (English/French edition) (2020) ISBN 979-8569229598
- History of Judo for Kids (English/Portuguese edition) (2020) ISBN 979-8569235377
- History of Judo for Kids (English/German edition) (2020) ISBN 979-8568561071
External links
- Official website
- Profile – Australian Olympic Team
- Matt D'Aquino at JudoInside.com
- NBC 2008 Olympics profile
References
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Matthew D'Aquino". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Tom Hill". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. 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. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. 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/
External links
- Official website
- Profile – Australian Olympic Team
- Matt D'Aquino at JudoInside.com
- NBC 2008 Olympics profile