Judo athletes confirmed for Tokyo 2020

As the birthplace of judo, Japan’s athletes are expected to excel in the sport in front of their home supporters at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The country has won 39 gold medals since the sport was introduced at Tokyo 1964, which is far more than its closest rival France on 14.

And many of the finest judokas have been named in the International Judo Federation’s official list of athletes who have qualified for the Games. They will line up to compete at the Nippon Budokan, which also hosted the judo competition at the Olympics in the capital 57 years ago.

The team will be led by reigning Olympic champion SHOHEI Ono who will be aiming to defend his -73kg title, which is arguably the most competitive division. The 29-year-old judoka, who has won three world championships titles, will be joined by another world champion, SOICHI Hashimoto, in the -73kg weight class.

Their main rivals will be Georgia’s world champion Lasha Shavdatuashvili. He will be looking to add to the gold medal he won at London 2012, and Azerbaijan’s Rustam Orujov, who won silver in Rio 2016.

Japan’s reigning heavyweight world champion KAGEURA Kokoro and fellow countryman Olympic silver medalist HARASAWA Hisayoshi will be one of the ones to beat in the +100kg weight class. A serious challenge will come from French judo legend Teddy Riner.

Riner, a double Olympic champion and 10-times world champion, will be going for a third gold in the weight class.

Grand Slam champion ASAHINA Sarah will also be aiming for a title for Japan in the women’s 78kg. World champion ABE Uta is expected to dominate in the -52kg category along with world champion SHISHIME Ai. ABE’s sister is double world champion Hifumi in the -66kg weight class.

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Another grand slam champion TONAKI Funa from the host nation will be one to watch in the -48kg weight class.

Among athletes from other nations hoping to do well will be France’s Olympic silver medalist Clarissa Agbegnenou in the -63kg. The 28-year-old added a fifth world championship title to her belt in Budapest, Hungary, in June; she beat Slovenian Leski Andreja in the final at the 2021 Judo World Championships. Andreja, 24, has also punched her ticket to Tokyo.

Canada’s Jessica Klimkait booked her place at the Games after being crowned world champion in -57kg, beating Japan’s TAMAOKI Momo in the final.

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The International Judo Federation said in a statement after publishing the list of athletes who had qualified for the Games: “The qualification period that was initially planned to end in June 2020, was extended to June 2021, finishing immediately after the World Judo Championships Hungary 2021. Having calculated all the points won by the participants of the World Judo Tour, the list of athletes is now known."

At the Tokyo Olympics there will be 386 judokas competing in 15 events, seven each for both men and women as well as a new mixed team event. Each of the 20 countries that have qualified can enter a maximum of 14 judokas, or one in each weight division. There will also be six athletes from the IOC Refugee Olympic Team.

Host nation Japan has reserved a spot in each of the 14 individual events. The country won a total of 11 medals out of the 14 divisions at the 202 World Judo Championships Budapest.

Gold and silver medals are awarded based on a single elimination competition. Two bronze medals are awarded in each weight class.

The mixed team event will make its debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games. Teams of three male judoka (under 73kg, under 100kg and over 100kg) and three female judokas (under 57kg, under 78kg, and over 78kg) will be drawn from individual competitions and will join forces to be crowned the first champions in the event.

Judo at Tokyo 2020 will be held at the Nippon Budokan from 24 July with the final on July 31. When judo was introduced as an Olympic sport for men at Tokyo 1964. There were four weight classes and Japan won gold in three of them. The women's events were added to the Olympic programme at Barcelona 1992. The 2019 Judo World Championships was held at the Nippon Budokan as a Tokyo 2020 test event.

READ MORE: Olympic Judo rankings (IJF)
READ MORE: Competition schedule for judo at the Olympic Games