Rena ‘Rusty’ Kanokogi (n.e Glickman; July 30, 1935 – November 21, 2009) was a renowned American judo expert. In 1959, disguised as a man, she won a medal at a YMCA judo tournament, but had to return it after acknowledging that she was a woman.
Traveling to Japan to continue her judo training, Kanokogi became the first woman allowed to train in the men’s group at the Kodokan.
In 1980, Kanokogi organised the first women’s judo world championship in Madison Square Garden’s Felt Forum, sponsoring it through the mortgage of her own home.
There is a street named after her in New York City, inaugurated in 2019.