Olympic Games - Tokyo, Japan

SUPERVISOR UDO QUELLMALZ

Udo Quellmalz is Olympic Champion 1996 and two times World Champion. He is part of the IJF supervisors and was working at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. We spoke with the 54-year old Judoka. You are working in the IJF as a supervisor. Please explain your function as a supervisor…

31 August 2021

Olympic Games - Tokyo, Japan

BUCHARD BLAZED TRAIL TO HER OLYMPIC SILVER

Amandine BUCHARD (FRA) missed out on an opportunity in Rio de Janeiro 2016 but wasn’t about to let it slip by her a second time, regardless of a world pandemic.  She trained hard and as she confesses, ‘suffered and sacrificed’ to ensure she was in optimal shape for the Tokyo…

29 August 2021

Olympic Games - Tokyo, Japan

BORCHASHVILI AND POLLERES SEIZE BEST OLYMPIC RESULTS SINCE 1984

Since 1984, Austria have been trying to beat their best results of an Olympic gold and bronze from Peter SEISENBACHER and Josef REITER, and after eight Olympiads, they did just that.  Medallists, Michela POLLERES and Shamil BORCHASHVILI had the most successful days of their careers in the -70kg and -81kg…

27 August 2021

EJU Partners

EJU WELCOMES DAEDO AS NEW SPONSOR

Again the EJU is glad to announce the new partnership with a judogi supplier. The CEO of DAEDO, Park Chuen Wook, signed the OFFICIAL SUPPLIER JUDOGI contract. DAEDO INTERNATIONAL is a Barcelona-based company. The Korean-born PARK moved to Barcelona in the early 1980s. In 1983 he founded the Taekwondo equipment…

25 August 2021

Olympic Referees

PARALYMPIC REFEREES 2021: VIKTOR HAVASI

Tomorrow is the day. Europe have eight esteemed referees raring to go as the judo event dawns in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo. The final referee in our lineup is Havasi Viktor. In the build up to the Olympic Games, we covered the qualified referees which just so happened to…

23 August 2021

Cadet European Judo Championships - Riga, Latvia

RECAP: CADET CHAMPIONSHIPS

The city of Riga, Latvia was host recently to the Cadet European championships. One of the Baltic states, Latvia has for many years produced judoka who have done their nation proud on the world stage. This time it was the nation’s capital to take centre stage as it welcomed a…

22 August 2021

EJU Partners

MATERIK RETURNS AS OFFICIAL SPONSOR

The Russian company MATERIK has signed the contract as a new OFFICIAL SPONSOR. The company was founded in 2008 and they have started as a tatami producer. The main sales market are Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, post-Soviet republics in Eurasia. The company based in Moscow is the…

21 August 2021

Olympic Referees

PARALYMPIC REFEREES 2021: VASILIY SMOLIN

Less than a week to go before our Paralympic judoka and referees step on the tatami in the Nippon Budokan, we can introduce yet another one of our long standing and high ranking referees, Vasiliy Smolin.  Though his father was a judo coach, Vasiliy was actually a member of a…

21 August 2021

Cadet European Judo Championships - Riga, Latvia

RUSSIA TOP MEDAL TALLY IN SUCCESSFUL CADET CONTINENTAL SHOWDOWN

The last day of the Cadet European Judo Championships 2021 saw the the remaining weight categories; -70kg, +70kg, -81kg, -90kg and +90kg decide who would take the final continental titles of the tournament.  In the end, Russia topped the medal table with five newly crowned cadet champions here in Latvia…

19 August 2021

Cadet European Judo Championships - Riga, Latvia

BABULFATH INFLUENCED BY SPORTING FAMILY SUCCESS

As the bus came around the corner and passed beneath the security barrier, the disembarking athletes could see a lone figure behind a fence waving a tiny flag. It was an unusual scene for a cadet tournament to have fans outside the sports arena, but because of the COVID-19 restrictions,…

18 August 2021

Cadet European Judo Championships - Riga, Latvia

NDIAYE TAKES FIRST EVER CADET TITLE FOR SWITZERLAND

The second day brought yet more fantastic judo with some clear talents storming through their categories. Most notable were the and -52kg and -57kg gold medallists, Binta NDIAYE (SUI) and Kerem PRIMO (ISR). Ndiaye brought home the first cadet European title for Switzerland and did so in style, Primo on…

18 August 2021

Olympic Referees

PARALYMPIC REFEREES 2021: NEDIM BAYAT

Some of us in judo have had our paths paved for us by our parents, our families or communities with their own lives ENGRAINED in the sport, others have stumbled on this beautiful sport and have been infected by the judo bug. This is the case for Nedim Bayat.  I…

18 August 2021

Cadet European Judo Championships - Riga, Latvia

AZERBAIJAN CLAIM THREE EUROPEAN TITLES ON DAY ONE

The Arena Riga hosted the first day of the Cadet European Championships in Latvia.  With the event spread over three days, the first weight categories to crown new continental champions were; -40kg, -50kg, -44kg, -55kg, 48kg and-60kg.  As always with cadet tournaments, the atmosphere was incredible despite the lack of…

17 August 2021

EJU MORAL CODE CARTOON SERIES RELEASED

Today we will see the first in the series of the ‘Judo Moral Code’.  At the very heart of everything we do, we live the judo code, be it to have respect for one another or to have courage to go after our dreams, on or off the tatami.  This…

16 August 2021

Olympic Games - Tokyo, Japan

EJU REFEREES REFLECT ON THEIR MOST REMARKABLE MOMENTS IN TOKYO

Nobody was closer to the action in Tokyo than the referees. We asked them about their experiences in the Nippon Budokan, the home of judo as the Olympic Games returned there after 57 years. First to divulge his personal experiences was Evgeny Rakhlin, who was still brimming with excitement following…

16 August 2021

Olympic Referees

PARALYMPIC REFEREES 2021: JHON RAMAEKERS

There have been many top referees hail from the Dutch nation, and next up to represent the Netherlands is Jhon Ramaekers.  Judo as a sport in the Netherlands is highly regarded and even legendary given the history of Anton Geesink from the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo and the return…

15 August 2021

Olympic Referees

PARALYMPIC REFEREES 2021: OLIVIER DESROSES

Olivier Desroses is next up in our Paralympic referee lineup heading to Tokyo.  At 11 years old, Olivier had absolutely no clue that in 2021 he would be claiming his place on a Paralympic tatami as a high ranked referee, but that is where is all started, at 11 in…

14 August 2021

Junior European Judo Cup & IJF-B examination - Udine, Italy

IJF-B EXAMINATION PASSED BY ELEVEN IN UDINE

We are pleased to announce that eleven referees passed their IJF-B examination by the end of the Junior European Cup event in Udine this week. It has been a tough period for both athletes and referees who have been out of practice in competition settings so it is a great…

14 August 2021