Rob Thomas, York born and bred, was recently presented with the grade of 5th dan at the North Yorkshire Judo Festival 2021.
Rob Started his Judo at York Rowntrees Judo Club and then progressed to Ryedale Judo Club in Pickering with coach Michael Leng in the mid 80's.
Gained his 1st Dan in 1987 and continued to win his Dan grades competitively through to his 5th Dan in 2005.
Won area ranking events from 1995 to 1998 at under 100 Kilo and 100 + Kilo.
Ranked GB No. 1 heavyweight from 1994 to 1998 and represented GB in Ireland, Austria, Japan and Canada.
Won European multi nations in 2004 and 2005 and in the World Masters was 5th in 2002, 03, 04 (in both under 100 and over 100 Kilo) and in 2005 won the Open weight category.
In 2005 he had his first serious cancer setback but took part in some new cancer trials that proved a success, but not sufficient to return to competitive Judo. A second cancer diagnosis followed a few years later and he is still not fully recovered from that.
He continues to be a Ryedale Judo member and is a regular visitor to offer support, encouragement and technical advice to the players and coaches.
The British Judo Association have undertaken a technical review of his Judo career as recommended by the EJU and BJA and consequently awarded him this grade of 6th Dan for his contribution to British Judo.