Men’s Open class competition in judo at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich West Germany was held at Judo and Wrestling Hall. Willem Ruska was the strong favorite to win a second gold medal having already won gold in the +93 kg weight class. In a surprise Vitali Kuznetsov threw Ruska defeating him using Te Guruma. Kuznetsov ended up winning the pool allowing Ruska to continue in the repechage.