After winning the All-Japan Selected judo championships for the third consecutive year in 1998, he injured his left knee in the Jigoro Kano Cup semi-finals on January 9, 1999, and was forced to withdraw from the competition.

Nomura made his return at the All-Japan Selected judo championships in 2000, winning the competition for the third time to gain a second trip to the olympics.

He became the first -60 kg division competitor to win consecutive olympic gold medals on September 16, 2000, by defeating Jung Bu-Kyung of South Korea by sumi otoshi only 14 seconds into the match.

He made his return with a win at an international tournament held in the Czech Republic, and won the All-Japan Selected judo championships for the sixth time in 2007.

[1] On April 25, he underwent knee surgery, although it remains unknown whether this injury might have played any role in his unexpected elimination from the aforementioned Olympic-qualifying competition.