Judo fever is raging in Croatia’s capital ZAGREB. To celebrate, the leading Croatian daily newspaper Jutarnji List featured a blue judo belt on its front page. Hashime! The EUROPEAN JUDO CHAMPIONSHIPS premiere has been running since 10.30am on Thursday. No fewer than seven world number one rankings, four Olympic champions, 17 world champions and 35 European champions are competing for world ranking points and European Championship medals. The Croatian hosts are sending four judoka into the competition on the first of four days. Ana Viktorija PULJIZ is considered to have the best chances (on d ..read more

On the eve of the Senior European Judo Championships 2024, the Croatian Judo team came together for a collective training session where media were invited. Hosted in the ballroom of the Westin Hotel, the coaching staff and 20-strong team were getting in to the championship mindset, minus a couple of athletes who were in the weigh in process, There were big wins for Team Croatia in 2024, setting them up for a successful Championships in the capital City of Zagreb, one of those with tremendous accolades this year was Katarina KRISTO in the -63kg category, a silver medal in the Paris Grand Slam ..read more

In 2021, the European Judo Championships were held in Lisbon, Portugal. Not all who would compete in Tokyo later that summer were competing in the European major championships, in fact, some were still dying for the prestigious position in the Olympic Games. Two of the fourteen champions in Lisbon, went on to make history and take glory in Tokyo; Lasha BEKAURI (GEO) and Distria KRASNIQI (KOS). For the young Georgian, there was a great deal of pressure to succeed in the European Championships as this win would decided who would have the Olympic spot between himself and Beka GVINIASHVILI, incred ..read more

Montréal, April 24, 2024 – Canadian junior judokas united forces on Wednesday in the Mixed Team event of the Panamerican Cadet and Junior Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Driven by collective efforts, the Canadians reached the final, where they came up against local athletes – and the defending champions of the competition. Photo: IJF / Di Feliciantonio Emanuele John Jr. Messe A Bessong Today’s story began when the Canadian team lost its first match against the Brazilian team, 4-0, in the group phase. Yehor Paladii (-90kg) was the first to take to the tatami. In a tight bout, the indi ..read more

Welcome to Koka Kids Judo Coaching Resources Library, created by Olympic silver medallist, Nicola Fairbrother. Read more The post Sensei! Join the Koka Kids Coaching Library and get visuals to teach judo and market your dojo appeared first on Judo Books by Koka Kids ..read more

Thursday will not only bring the first day of the European Judo Championships Seniors Zagreb 2024 but the opening day of the EJU Kids Camp 2024, held also in Zagreb. Over 1100 children from 30 countries will join in unity to learn and to share their knowledge. Each day of the camp will be divided into two sections, a morning judo session and an afternoon session filled with several activities such as Fair play workshop and creative DIY ventures. Children will also be exposed to demonstrative exercises with the rescue services to learn how to react in an emergency such as flood, earthquake and ..read more

The Senior European Judo Championships 2024 will commence Thursday, the 25th of April, kickstarting the three-day individual competition and concluding with the greatly anticipated Mixed Team event on the 28th. Before the official draw was conducted by the Vice President of the European Judo Union, Mr Hrvoje LINDI, welcome words were given by President of the European Judo Union, Dr. TOTH Laszlo. Two years ago, we spoke for the first time with Prime Minister Andrej PLENKOVIC about the possibility of organising the first European Judo Senior Championships in Croatia. Now this dream is becomin ..read more

The refereeing meeting for the European Championships Senior Zagreb 2024 took place Wednesday afternoon. However, last week, the referees’ ranking list was temporarily frozen and final selections were made for the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games, which was one of the main talking points, indicating we can expect a top-class refereeing package in Croatia. Attendees included Europe’s top 16 referees, IJF Head Referee Director, Armen BAGDASAROV; EJU Head Referee Director, Alexandr JATSKEVITCH; EJU Head Referee Commissioners: Franc OCKO and Cathy MOUETTE ; EJU Referee Com ..read more

As the European Judo Championships reach their climax on the third and final day of individual competition, it's the leading ladies from Israel who are stealing the spotlight in the -78kg and +78kg categories ..read more

Although this week Zagreb is hosting the 73rd edition for men and 50th edition for women of the senior Europeans, for some it will be their very first time competing at such a prestigious event. Even the likes of Paris Grand Slam 2024 winner, Faiza MOKDAR (FRA) is amongst the premieres. What of their own feelings and expectations?   Faiza MOKDAR (FRA/-57kg) I feel the urge to go and fight at my first senior Europeans. I want to enjoy it, fight by fight. I want to win, I want the gold medal. Paris is behind me, I don’t think about it anymore. Every competition is different, yo ..read more