A few names one would have put a bet for gold on day one of the Qazaqstan Barysy Grand Slam 2024 are the likes of Shirine Boukli (FRA), Sarah Leonie Cysique (FRA), Walide Khyar (FRA), Elios Manzi (ITA) and Gefen Primo (ISR). Besides the latter, the rest had to settle for bronzes if at all. Is it really the time to be on form for these athletes thought? Not at all.  This final grand slam of the Paris 2024 qualifying period is about many things such as securing a seeded position at the Olympics, yet trying to qualify, fetching more points to get the continental quota or simply gaining expe ..read more

The excitement for the 2024 Olympic Games is building up as the Olympic flame arrives in France, marking the beginning of the torch relay and signalling the country’s readiness to host this prestigious international sporting event. The Olympic flame, a symbol of unity, hope, and the Olympic spirit, has made its way to French soil, precisely in Marseille, igniting a sense of anticipation and enthusiasm among athletes and spectators alike. The tradition of the Olympic torch relay dates back to the 1936 Berlin Olympics and has since become an integral part of the Games. The flame is lit in Olympi ..read more

The EJU Kata Tour has been persistent since the beginning of the year with the next stop being Radom, Poland. This is the last kata European cup ahead of the European Judo Championships Kata 2024. Around 51 pairs from 10 countries will be heading to this first-time location. EJU Head Kata Commissioner, Dr Slavisa Bradic is delighted to convey the first of its kind in Poland. As part of the EJU Kata tour, this year, for the first time, organized kata competition takes place in Radom, Poland. After the intensification of Kata activities in Poland, which the national federation monitors and supp ..read more

Tbilisi will host the final Veteran European Cup before their prime event which fast approaching and in a month time hundreds of them will be gather for the European Judo Championships Veterans 2024. For now, let’s focus on Tbilisi.  Almost 100 judoka from 10 countries will be heading to Georgia for a final bout before the continental championships. Needless to say that the host nation has a great depth of judoka entered including all of their six 2023 veteran European champions: Paata Merebashvili, Sandro Iakobashvili, Alexsi Davitashvili, Levan Chubinidze, Giorgi Modebadze and Gigla Tsi ..read more

Incredibly, some of the top athletes in the world have competed in a continental championships followed by the Dushanbe Grand Slam, and are already making their way to Kazakhstan for the Grand Slam in Astana, wrapping up a three-week, points-collecting tour. Kazakhstan won’t even be the final stop, with the World Championships beginning on the 19th of May, concluding the IJF World Judo Tour prior to the Olympic Games. With only two major events left, 493 athletes from 88 nations are going to give their all between the 10th and 12th of May, either in a last ditch attempt to qualify, or for thos ..read more

The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies falls as a critical public health issue, particularly among children and adolescents. According to WHO, falls are a leading cause of injury-related deaths and disabilities worldwide, with millions of people suffering from fall-related injuries annually. In response to this significant health concern, the European Judo Union (EJU) has launched the Safe Falls program aimed at preventing fall injuries, especially among children and youth. At the core of the Safe Falls program lies the research conducted by Professor Oscar DEL CASTILLO-ANDRES, wh ..read more

One week left to register to the next Children Kata Festival & Kata Seminar in cooperation with the European Judo Union which is to be held in Ljubljana on the 25th of May. After Iceland, the Children Kata Festival project continues in Slovenia. The festival will bring together coaches and judoka from several countries who will attend the seminar composed of several parts. On the first day, a workshop is going to be held with a presentation of the methodology of working with children. It should be noted that kata for children is only a tool that helps learning and adopting basic judo techn ..read more

Not long to go now… The French Judo Federation in close collaboration with the European Judo Union will be hosting a training camp and coaching seminar for Adapted judo (Intellectual disabilities) from May 13-15. All coaches are welcome to take part in this event to discuss and to work together on the European classification of the Adapted judo categories. This event will be followed by the regional adapted judo tournament. Content: What is a disability? Which disabilities do we encounter? How do we compete? Dynamics between athlete, referee and coach. Divisioning workshop EJU adapted judo ru ..read more

Though judo legend, Teddy RINER (FRA) is gracious in his success, tipping his hat to his strong opponents, there is no denying that on the third day of Dushanbe Grand Slam, the Frenchman was unstoppable. A clean sweep of ippon wins against; Munir ERTUG (TUR), Losseni KONE (GER), Denis BATCHAEV (AIN) and finally, the home favourite and top seed, Temur RAKHIMOV (TJK), were simply incredible and was a stark reminder of the early days of Riner. At 35 years old, the double Olympic Champion and 10-time World Champion is determined to add a third Olympic gold to his collection in Paris this year, and ..read more

Azerbaijan won the overall medal tally at the Goygol Cadet European Cup 2024. The team continued with another set of solid performances on the second and final day of the event ending their weekend with a total of 4 gold, 1 silver and 9 bronze medals. France was the closest to the home dominance and had taken an overall 2-4-4 tally whilst Türkiye summed up a 1-3-0 to finish third place on the final standing. Additional golden home memories were delivered by Mehdi Abbasov (-81kg) who won the final against Ilia Simonov (AIN). Subhan Akhundov then completed the celebration when winning the gold ..read more