Rena Kanokogi became the first woman to train with men at the Kodokan Institute in Tokyo. She became the founder of the first world female world championship when it was hosted in the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden.
About 50 years, in 2009, after she was stripped of her first-place medal, Rena was awarded a gold medal by the New York State YMCA commending her for her contributions to the judo sport. “[The medal] should have never been taken from me,” Rena Kanokogi said at the time. “But we’re righting a wrong, that’s what counts.” She died three months later.