Tributes have been paid to Bernard Tchoullouyan ©IJF

The International Judo Federation (IJF) has paid tribute to former French world champion Bernard Tchoullouyan after he died at the age of 65.

Tchoullouyan passed away following a heart attack with the IJF expressing "great sadness".

He won gold in the under-86 kilograms class at the 1981 World Championships in Maastricht in The Netherlands.

This came a year after he won Olympic bronze in Moscow at under-78kg level, the weight division he claimed World Championship silver in on home soil in Paris in 1979. 

After his competitive career Tchoullouyan made the move into coaching.

He helped guide France's Olympic and world champion Lucie Decosse and world champion Morgane Ribout.

French judoka Bernard Tchoullouyan, left, after his Olympic bronze in Moscow, with Thierry Rey, centre ©Getty Images
French judoka Bernard Tchoullouyan, left, after his Olympic bronze in Moscow, with Thierry Rey, centre ©Getty Images

"Recognised within the discipline for his technical judo as much as his great kindness and his discretion, he brought his experience to many judokas," the IJF said.

Thierry Rey, an Olympic and world champion competing at the same time as Tchoullouyan, added: "He was a judo genius. 

"He was judo. 

"He was the timing, the right move, the proper opening. 

"Bernard was the greatest French technician in history. 

"He revealed potentials and was shaping them."