Member News

March 7, 2007

Olympic Bronze Medalist Allen Coage Passes Away

Allen Coage, prior to winning bronze at the 1976 Olympic Games.

One of the United States’ greatest judo players, Allen Coage, died on Tuesday in Calgary, Canada after being taken to Rockyview Hospital with chest pains.

Coage became the second U.S. athlete, and the first African-American, to win an Olympic medal in the sport of judo when he earned a bronze in the +95kg division at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.

A six-time National Champion and two-time Pan American Games Champion, Coage later became a World Wrestling Federation celebrity in the late 1980s as “Bad News Brown.”

A New York native, Coage trained at Cranford Judo and Karate Center in New Jersey under Sensei Yoshisada Yonezuka who later coached the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Teams.

“I saw Allen a few months ago and he looked fine, so I was shocked when we heard [that he passed away]” Yonezuka said. “He trained with me for quite awhile starting in the early ‘70s and he was a very hard worker.  If I told him to do 200 uchikomis he’d do 400 and sometimes I’d have to tell him not to overwork, but that’s also why he was so great and how he became the only American heavyweight to win an Olympic medal.”

Coage trained with many of the best athletes in the nation, including a young Mike Swain who made the trip to Montreal as a 15-year-old with his father to watch Coage win the Olympic bronze medal.

“To me Allen was basically a mentor.  We both came from the same club and he was the one who encouraged me to go to Japan when I was 16.  He was a training partner, mentor and all-around second dad” said Swain, a 1987 World Champion.  “Allen was a big guy so sometimes people thought he was mean from his days in the WWF and all of that, but he was the nicest guy and always helped me out.”

Coage, who later made his home in Calgary, is survived by his wife Helen and children.

“Today is a sad day for the U.S. judo family, but at the same time we should take time to celebrate Allen’s accomplishments and be grateful for his life and the impact he made on American judo,” said Dr. Ron Tripp, USA Judo President.