It became official at 8:30am on Saturday, 30 May: the 2026 Junior European Cup in Graz has made judo history. Never before has a junior tournament, either in Europe or worldwide, attracted a larger field of competitors than this weekend’s event at the Raiffeisensportpark Graz. A total of 617 young judoka from 34 nations are competing, surpassing the previous benchmarks set in Lignano in April (595 athletes from 27 nations) and even Berlin, which had held the all-time record since 2008 with 612 competitors from 31 countries. The Austrian record, previously held by Leibnitz in 2014 (596 competitors from 31 nations), has also been consigned to history.
“Of course, that’s something we can be proud of. Through our international training camps, Mittersill already established itself as the number one destination. On the World Tour, the Upper Austria Grand Prix in Linz attracted the highest number of participants in 2025. Now we are also the outright leaders when it comes to Junior European Cups. On top of that, we have received excellent feedback for the flawless organisation in Graz. In other words, the Junior European Cup at the Raiffeisensportpark delivers both quantity and quality,” said Judo Austria Secretary General Corina Korner and President Martin Poiger.
The referee team is also likely to set a new benchmark, with 28 referees from 14 nations in attendance. Among them is Italy’s Roberta Chyurlia, a multiple Olympic referee. The host nation is represented by three officials: Paul Perchtold (Vienna), Roland Poiger (Burgenland) and David Pühringer (Upper Austria).
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Author: Wolfgang Eichler
Author: EJU Media