There’s nothing in judo like the Grand Slam in Paris. The first spectators started to line up in front of the Accor Arena at about 6:30 in the morning to get in. A total of 520 athletes from 82 nations are competing, among them eight world number ones. What do you need to know about the most attractive and prestigous tournament in the world?
Long time: Not only has the French 3-time Olympic champion Teddy RINER been waiting for 10 years to succeed, so has the French Judo Federation. It has been nine years in a row, that Japan has won the medal table.
49th edition: 52 years ago the first Paris Grand Slam tournament took place. But only next year, in 2024, it will be the 50th edition of the tournament.
Home team: The hosts have a total of 55 competitors, the second strongest nation is Kazakhstan with 28. 13 out of the 55 French judoka are competing at the home Grand Slam for the first time.
-81/-63kg: The men’s -81 category is the one with the most starters (58), so is the -63 for the women (36). -81kg six out of the top-ten athletes are competing, -63kg it’s eight out of ten.
Extraordinary quality: Beside the eight world number ones there are six reigning world champions (Rafaela Silva/BRA/-57, Barbara Matic/CRO/-70, Romane Dicko/FRA/+78, Tato Grigalashvili/GEO/-81, Davlat Bobonov/UZB/-90, Muzaffarbek Turoboyev/UZB/-100) and eight European championship title holders competing (Shirine Boukli/FRA/-48, Timna Nelson Levy/ISR/-57, Marie-Eve Gahie/FRA/-70, Romane Dicko/FRA/+78; Bogdan Iadov/UKR/-66, Tato Grigalashvili/GEO/-81, Luka Maisuradze/GEO/-90, Michael Korrel/NED/-100.)
Judoka
Author: EJU Media