Hendel had won the 70-kilogram event at the 1970 European Judo Championships in East Berlin, where he defeated the home country’s Dietmar Hoetger to claim West Germany’s only gold medal of the event.

A year later, in Gothenburg, he retained his title when he beat Poland’s Antoni Zajkowski in the final.

In 1972, Zajkowski won the Olympic silver medal in the division at Munich.

By then, Handel had moved up to the 80kg category, where he reached the last 16 at Munich 1972. 

After his retirement, Hendel worked as a coach in Frankfurt.

In 1990, he helped found judo club 90 Frankfurt, which produced several German champions.

Tributes to Hendel, who died on July 17, were led by the German Judo Federation (DJB).

"Even as a pensioner, he was always to be found in the sports centre and gave a lot of advice to the younger generation in the club," a statement on the DJB website said.

"He always had an open ear for the athletes.

"He later worked for his club with the same perseverance with which he once fought for his many successes.

"He became a role model for entire generations of athletes.

"Rudolf Hendel leaves a big gap in the judo world.

"He will be sorely missed."