Allen Coage, 63; black Olympic medalist in judo, pro wrestler

Allen Coage, 63, who was the first African American athlete to win an Olympic medal in judo and later joined the ranks of professional wrestling under the stage names Bad News Allen and Bad News Brown, died Tuesday at Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, Canada.

A spokeswoman for USA Judo said he had been hospitalized with chest pains, but a cause of death was not made public.

At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Coage shared the bronze medal in the over-205-pound category with Sumio Endo of Japan. He remains the only American to win an Olympic medal in judo’s heavyweight division.

A six-time national champion and two-time Pan American Games champion, Coage was born in New York City in 1943 and trained with Sensei Yoshisada Yonezuka, who later coached the 1988 and 1992 U.S. Olympic judo teams.

After competing in the 1976 Olympics, Coage moved to Japan and wrestled professionally. He also wrestled for the World Wrestling Federation and Canada’s Stampede Wrestling.

He moved to Calgary in 1983 and worked as a judo instructor and security guard in addition to performing in pro wrestling.