PARIS, April 13, 2023 - Among the most successful athletes so far in the IJF World Judo Tour this year, the French dominate. The team is truly warming up for the Olympic Games next year in Paris, where in less than 500 days, 14 athletes representing the host nation will be competing in the individual events and of course they will most likely defend their mixed team title in Paris, which could become the highlight of the 8 days of judo.

The most successful athlete of this moment is lightweight Blandine Pont. She is the only athlete who has captured three gold medals, across three competitions. Pont was definitely not poised to be selected for the Games next year as her French teammate Shirine Boukli was the world number one in the U48kg. Pont saw it as a challenge and is determined to get the best out of her position, and she sure does. Pont is now for sure among the World Championships favourites having won the Grand Slams of Paris, Tel Aviv and Antalya. With two diamonds in this lightweight division, the French have a luxury position as only one can compete. Perhaps the World Championships will give judo fans a sneak preview of what’s coming. The 2023 Worlds is the next tournament to be held 7-14 May in Doha, Qatar where the best athletes will need to line up for the last World Championships in ahead of the Olympics, it’s the ultimate chance to emphasise who will qualify for the Olympic Games. Although the road to Paris is long, the number of points to gain will be a big jump to qualify.

IJF World Tour in full speed
The IJF World Tour kicked off in Almada in Portugal with the first Grand Prix of the season. The Paris Grand Slam followed in February, which is by far the biggest tournament in the world with 17,000 spectators each day and offers a good overview of which athletes are in form. The Grand Slam in Tel Aviv delivered another spectacular event with thousands of Judo fans in the ecstatic venue, a joy to be on the tatami for any judoka. The World Tour was back in Tashkent after last year’s World Championships but the field was less, but the Uzbek performances are definitely growing towards the Games. The passionate judo fans in Georgia are knowledgeable and enjoyed a great atmosphere with many highlights on the third and last matchday where the champions stood up. The last Grand Slam in advance of the World was held in Antalya, in a country that is in so much pain after the earthquake in February. The top event such in Antalya attracted 600 athletes with top judo and it meant a lot for the Turkish people to still be able to host such an event.



World Peace via Judo
In Antalya, the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace was celebrated. The Judo family joined the WhiteCard movement to promote peace, inclusion, and solidarity through sports. Judo has its values and is a trailblazer when it comes to values that any human being needs these days where conflicts also affect sports participation and results in polarization.

Doha will be the centre of the judo world in May and it covers great sports facilities and has a history in judo as the top athletes return to the capital where the IJF World Masters were held in 2021 but since then the field has changed. Some of the athletes retired after the Olympics such as double Olympic Champion Shohei Ono, no one saw that coming. He won’t match Teddy Riner’s Olympic results nor Japanese legend Tadahiro Nomura who is still the only athlete ever in judo to win three individual Olympic gold medals. The tournament is now limited to the best athletes only, and should be qualified among the best 100 of the World Ranking. In the past the Worlds invited athletes from any country with a total of over 800 athletes, this time only the elite will hunt for the medals.

 

New talent in Doha
It's time for the youngsters to stand up with great talents such as Ilia Sulamanidze (21), Mimi Huh (20), Tatsuru Saito (21) and young but renowned judoka such as current World Champions Uta Abe (22), Tato Grigalashvili (23), Romane Dicko (23) and new faces in the top such as Diyora Keldiyorova (UZB), Alice Bellandi (ITA), Raz Hershko (ISR) who all really stood out in the World Tour events so far.

But remember the last Grand Slam in Antalya proved that the older generation cannot be wiped out with five winners over 30 years old and some are definitely candidates for another world title: Rafaela Silva (BRA), Noel van ‘t End (NED), Audrey Tcheumeo, all former World Champions who found the pace of winning.

Talking about becoming World or Olympic Champion, is of zero importance to what happened in Turkey and Syria during the long seconds of the 6th February. The final toll is undoubtedly greatly underestimated.