Olympic and world champion judoka Kosei Inoue will be held out of next week's Kano Cup international judo competition because of a heart ailment, judo officials said Sunday.
According to national team doctor Seiji Miyazaki, Inoue suffers from a condition known as neurocirculatory asthenia in which the nerves that control the heart behave oddly or lose strength.
The condition is believed to be brought on by situations such as overwork or stress, the doctor said.
Inoue's condition was discovered when the 22-year-old judoka from Tokai University complained of a pounding heart and difficulty breathing in November.
He reportedly had the same trouble a year earlier, but a medical examination showed nothing out of the ordinary.
Judo officials believe that Inoue's condition might have been brought about by the pressures of competing in last fall's Sydney Olympics and the hectic schedule of personal appearances and congratulatory events that followed for the 100-kg champion.
"We must be careful about how much we tax the heart. We'll see how his heart checks out after some rest before we resume practice," men's national team director Yasuhiro Yamashita said.