Busy days for judo in Europe and America
JM González
May 1, 2024

These are busy days for judo both in Europe and in America. On the Old Continent, the 2024 European Championship was held in Zagreb, Croatia, while this Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5, a new date of the Pan American Open will take place, to be held in Santiago, Chile. Both tournaments award points towards world ranking and Olympic qualification for Paris 2024.

The European Judo 2024 was successfully held in Zagreb. The best judokas in Europe attended the event. Georgia was the country that led the medal table, with two gold medals (won by Tato Grigalashvili in -81 kilos and Vazha Margvelashvili in -66 k), two silvers and three bronzes. They were the country that won the most medals in the tournament. The podium of countries was completed by Azerbaijan (2 gold and 1 silver) and France (1 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze).

There were also outstanding performances by figures who have been dazzling in judo for years, such as the Kosovar Distria Krasniqi, who in Tokyo 2020 achieved gold in -48 k. In Zagreb, however, the judoka competed at -52 although the result was the same: she led her category to the top of the podium. And if that were not enough, Krasniqi also leads the Olympic qualification ranking towards Paris.

AMERICA PREPARES

After Europe, now it is America’s turn. Santiago, capital of Chile and site of the last Pan American and Parapan American Games, is preparing to host the Pan American Judo Open, which also provides places for Olympic qualification.

The contest will take place qn Saturday, May 4th and Sunday, May 5th, bringing together more than 100 competitors from 18 countries in America. In addition, the event will have three participants from Japan and another from Jordan.

These are the next challenges for judo, which globally focuses not only on the great event of the year, the Paris Olympic Games, but also ahead of the Abu Dhabi World Cup that will be held from May 19 to 24. As for the Olympic classification ranking, this will be announced on June 25, two days after the final list is closed.

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