70-year-old Thurgau judoka Hans Nessensohn wins World Cup silver in the USA

If you were looking for a living personification of a “stand-up man” – Hans Nessensohn, who runs for the Weinfelden Judo and Jiu-Jitsu Club, would be a suitable “model”. Because the tireless fighter from Central Thurgau is known for his tough qualities. In December 2021, for example, he cheated death after catching the aggressive delta variant of the coronavirus. “I was more dead than alive for weeks,” he still remembers with horror.

Hans Nessensohn is generally as fit as a fiddle. Where one or two of his peers sometimes pushes a little bag in front of him, there is not an ounce of fat to be seen in the Kradolfer. You shouldn’t actually think so, because his “competition diet”, which he stayed true to in Las Vegas, doesn’t exactly sound like typical sports nutrition: Appenzeller Biber and Cola.

“I shake the cola until all the carbon dioxide is out, because carbon dioxide would only put a strain on my body during the competition. The remaining combination of sugar and caffeine gives me the right kick during competition,” says Hans Nessensohn during an interview in the Weinfelder Dojo.

Motivated by your own birthday party

The fact that he was able to successfully live out this “kick” in North America a few weeks ago was nothing short of a miracle. Because on February 27th of this year he suffered a broken ankle and fibula during training. “I then walked off the mat, drove home in the car and went to the doctor the next day,” he says calmly. A week later he had an operation in Münsterlingen – and was back home two and a half days later.

“I amazed my therapists at how fast I could walk with the sticks.” What took others days to do took him hours. “I’m just the competitive type,” he laughs. His own cradle celebration drove him to hurry. “Five days after the operation I was invited to my 70th birthday party. A birth party without the birthday child is not possible.”

The last seconds decided

As so often, it was after Nessensohn’s birthday before the first training session. After stress tests, he started training in June, which he intensified after the summer holidays. “I have my son Beat to thank for the fact that I made it to North America because he gave me great training and prepared me well for the opponents.”

What the veteran means by this is that he actually fought “contre cœur” for the first time at the World Cup. «I always try to take the initiative myself. However, in Las Vegas I behaved very passively – and thereby risked a few penalties, which I then received. But this restraint in the fight allowed me to get through the fights in good condition.” And to win.

Silver won, not gold lost

Hans, who had already been warned, won both his quarter-final against the Spaniard Ramos Vincente and the semi-final against the American Noriaki Bunasawa with Ippon “in the last seconds”. If he hadn’t successfully attempted the shoulder throw, the Kradolfer would have been able to pack up his belongings again immediately after the first fight. However, things turned out differently – and Hans Nessensohn had to give up against Sandy North from the USA. «I am very proud of this medal. “I definitely didn’t lose gold, I won silver,” explains Hans Nessensohn.

What else he remembers from his trip to Las Vegas are the huge dimensions. “Our hotel had 2,500 rooms, which accommodated all 1,134 athletes who took part in the tournament.” But that wasn’t all, because all the training and competitions also took place in the hotel. “They simply set up five fighting areas in the hotel – each one as big as this dojo. “Something like that would be unthinkable here in Switzerland,” the tireless fighter still marvels today.