The OTP Bank World Judo Championships 2025 was an absolute whirlwind of activities for children, with so much to see and do. As well as getting to watch world-class athletes and their personal heroes, they also had the opportunity to meet them. Midweek, Fabio Basile, or ‘The King’ as he likes to call himself, made an exciting appearance at the Papp Laszlo Arena, where he spent some quality time with the young fans.
Following the meet and greet session, the ever-enthusiastic Basile shared his thoughts: “I was shocked how children of six , seven and eight years old called me by my name and their eyes lit up when they saw me. I won the Olympic gold years ago, nearly a decade, and to think that I am inspiring more than two generations is worth more than anything else in the world. This gives me strength and I hope that judo will be a form of education for them at a global level, and not just a sport like many others.”
“Everyone has heroes as a child.” he continued. “Some of them are forgotten as they grow up but not me.. and yes I had them too and not just one. The first were our Italian Olympic gold medallists Pino Maddaloni and Ezio Gamba. Another idol I had was Rishod Sobirov where I promised myself that one day I would be on the world podium with him and so it was in Rio 2016 he was next to me on the Olympic podium.“
Basile left the following message to the younger generation: “Follow your passion, put in the time and you will be successful. Don’t give up in front of any obstacle, you are the master of your life and your success. It is up to you to decide to go and get what you want”.
Meanwhile, alongside the World Championships, children of Hungarian descent from neighbouring countries were invited to join a kids’ camp organised by the local organising committee. During their stay, they had the opportunity to spend quality mat time with Dan Matsumoto and Tóth Krisztián.
Benigna, 12-year-old girl from Romania, shared her excitement and overall experience, which she found really positive. “It was really good to learn from the elite. From Krisztián, I learned how to do the morote-seoi-nage throw properly, to pull better with my hands and to lower my balance, and from Sensei Matsumoto I was able to improve my ground fighting. This week was fantastic, and this hall [Papp László Arena] is beautiful; I really enjoyed every moment. I saw how elite athletes fight, and I saw my favourite judoka. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this for the world.”
Nine-year-old Maja from Tóthfalu, Serbia, also had the opportunity to meet her hero face to face. “I started judo when I was four years old. I love judo because I learn many things and get stronger every time. My favourite technique is o-soto-gari, and my favourite judoka is the Italian champion, Alice Bellandi. She seems to be a very nice person, and I had the chance to meet her, I am so happy.”
Prior to their return home this afternoon, Szöcs László, regional director in Romania, also shared his thoughts: “We were able to give the children an amazing experience. Honestly, I still can’t believe how much happiness we were able to bring them, and we had such a great programme: a Japanese master gave us a training session, and we also had Tóth Krisztián.
“Every morning, we watched the preliminaries; in the afternoon, the finals, it was a full schedule. We also went sightseeing and to the cinema; we organised other activities as well. For these children, just being able to come here is a huge deal. Some of the children with us are from orphanages, so honestly, it was very uplifting and beautiful.”
“Altogether, 50 children were with us throughout the whole week, which, frankly, carries a huge responsibility, both looking after the children and managing everything.” he continued. “I say this sincerely: this environment, the huge organisation, the serious work going on behind the scenes that the president and his colleagues are doing, both President Marius Vizer and President Tóth László, we are extremely grateful to them for all their support and everything they have done. It has been an incredible experience for us.
“From my point of view, I can say that they [the IJF] have raised the level of judo so much, and there are so many people here from around the world, over 90 countries, which wasn’t the case before. Honestly, I don’t even know what to say; they have given the children something truly special. This arena somehow feels like a revered place; I don’t know how to explain it. Everything went so smoothly. I mean it, it was wonderful.”
Images: Gabi Juan and Bor Veronika
Author: Szandra Szogedi