Birth name Petar Perovic Name Nicholas Delpopolo Nickname(s) Nick Role Olympic athlete | Country United States Height 1.73 m Sport Judo Weight 73 kg | |
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Born February 8, 1989 (age 35) ( 1989-02-08 ) Niksic, Montenegro Residence Scotia, New York, United States Profiles | ||
Nicholas Delpopolo (USA) - Nicholas Tritton (CAN) [-73kg]
Nicholas "Nick" Delpopolo (born February 8, 1989) is an American judoka. He competed in the men's 73 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics; after defeating Cheung Chi Yip in the second round and Dirk Van Tichelt in the third, he lost to Wang Ki-Chun in the fourth round and was eliminated by Nyam-Ochir Sainjargal in the repechages.
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On August 6, 2012, Delpopolo was expelled from the Olympics by the IOC after he tested positive for cannabis. Upon exiting the games, Delpopolo stated the positive test result was caused by "inadvertent consumption of food that I did not realize had been baked with marijuana, before I left for the Olympic Games."
On August 9, 2016, Delpopolo competed again at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's 73 kg event, defeating Ahmed Goumar (Niger) in the first round, Odbayar Ganbaatar (Mongolia) in the second round, and ultimately losing to Miklós Ungvári (Hungary) in the Quarter-finals by penalty points. Delpopolo ultimately finished 7th in his division.
Personal life
Delpopolo was born as Petar Perović (Montenegrin/Serbian Cyrillic: Петар Перовић) in Nikšić, SR Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia. Of Serbian heritage, his biological parents left him as a toddler. After being orphaned for 21 months he was adopted as a 2-year-old by a New Jersey family. As his adoptive father Dominic's family was from Serbia, they started adoption process there until eventually they were to taken to an orphanage near Nikšić, Montenegro. Several years later they adopted another child there, a daughter named Helen.
Nick was raised by his adoptive parents in Westfield, New Jersey and attended Bergen Catholic High School.
In 2009, he went to Montenegro to see his biological father, but chose not to reveal himself because the man looked hostile. Nick also plans to find his biological mother who is in Serbia.