Judo

Facts

Discipline of Judo
Participants 2968
NOCs 186
Competitions held 152 (Venues)
Distinct events 25
IF International Judo Federation

Description

The founder of judo, Dr. Jigaro Kano, was a long-time member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Judo is a form of wrestling that was developed by Dr. Kano from the ancient Japanese schools of yawara and jujitsu. He founded his first dojo (judo school) in 1882, termed the Kodokan. The contestants are termed judoka and are classified into grades consisting of pupils (Kyu) and degrees (Dan). There are five classes of Kyu, advancing to first Kyu, and wearing a brown belt. Thereafter, the judoka achieves a Dan, beginning with first Dan (black belt) and advancing theoretically to 12th Dan (white belt). Fighting ability and technical knowledge advance a judoka to fifth Dan, after which advancement depends on service to the sport. Leading international judoka are usually fourth or fifth Dan. The 11th and 12th Dan have never been awarded.

Judo made its first Olympic appearance in 1964, but was not included on the program of the 1968 Olympic Games. Judo returned to the Olympic fold in 1972, and the 1992 Olympics included judo events for women for the first time. The sport, not surprisingly, has been dominated by the Japanese, followed by France and Korea.

The sport is governed internationally by the International Judo Federation (IJF), which was formed on 11 July 1951, in London, with eight founding members: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. As of 2022, the IJF has 206 member federations.

The top male Olympic judo medallists have been Teddy Riner, of France, and Tadahiro Nomura, of Japan, both with three gold medals. Riner is also the male judoka with more medals, with a total of five, followed by Angelo Parisi, with four medals while representing Great Britain and France. In the women’s tournament, six athletes have won two gold medals, but Japanese Ryoko Tamura-Tani is the only one of them who has five Olympic medals. On the overall medal count, she is followed by two Cubans – Idalys Ortiz and Driulis González – both with four medals and one gold.

Presidents of the International Judo Federation:

All-time medal table

Olympic Games

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
Japan JPN 48 21 27 96
France FRA 16 13 28 57
Republic of Korea KOR 11 17 18 46
People's Republic of China CHN 8 3 11 22
Cuba CUB 6 15 16 37
Soviet Union URS 5 5 13 23
Russian Federation RUS 5 4 7 16
Georgia GEO 4 5 3 12
Italy ITA 4 4 9 17
Brazil BRA 4 3 17 24
Netherlands NED 4 2 18 24
Germany GER 3 4 16 23
Poland POL 3 3 2 8
Spain ESP 3 1 2 6
Kosovo KOS 3 0 0 3
United States USA 2 4 8 14
Austria AUT 2 3 2 7
Democratic People's Republic of Korea PRK 2 2 4 8
Belgium BEL 2 1 10 13
Slovenia SLO 2 1 3 6
Unified Team EUN 2 0 2 4
Czechia CZE 2 0 0 2
Mongolia MGL 1 4 6 11
West Germany FRG 1 4 3 8
Hungary HUN 1 3 6 10
East Germany GDR 1 2 6 9
Romania ROU 1 2 3 6
Azerbaijan AZE 1 2 2 5
Switzerland SUI 1 1 2 4
Argentina ARG 1 0 1 2
Belarus BLR 1 0 1 2
Greece GRE 1 0 1 2
Türkiye TUR 1 0 1 2
Great Britain GBR 0 8 12 20
Canada CAN 0 2 5 7
Uzbekistan UZB 0 2 5 7
Kazakhstan KAZ 0 2 2 4
Israel ISR 0 1 5 6
Ukraine UKR 0 1 3 4
Bulgaria BUL 0 1 2 3
Algeria ALG 0 1 1 2
Colombia COL 0 1 1 2
Egypt EGY 0 1 1 2
Chinese Taipei TPE 0 1 0 1
Slovakia SVK 0 1 0 1
Estonia EST 0 0 3 3
Portugal POR 0 0 3 3
ROC ROC 0 0 3 3
Australia AUS 0 0 2 2
Yugoslavia YUG 0 0 2 2
Czechoslovakia TCH 0 0 1 1
Iceland ISL 0 0 1 1
Kyrgyzstan KGZ 0 0 1 1
Latvia LAT 0 0 1 1
Tajikistan TJK 0 0 1 1
United Arab Emirates UAE 0 0 1 1

Youth Olympic Games

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
Mixed team MIX 3 3 6 12
Japan JPN 3 0 1 4
Russian Federation RUS 2 3 1 6
Hungary HUN 2 1 2 5
Kazakhstan KAZ 2 1 0 3
Republic of Korea KOR 2 0 2 4
United States USA 2 0 0 2
Azerbaijan AZE 1 2 0 3
Germany GER 1 1 3 5
Belgium BEL 1 1 2 4
Brazil BRA 1 1 1 3
Czechia CZE 1 1 0 2
Romania ROU 1 1 0 2
Croatia CRO 1 0 2 3
Türkiye TUR 1 0 2 3
Belarus BLR 1 0 1 2
Venezuela VEN 1 0 1 2
Islamic Republic of Iran IRI 1 0 0 1
Georgia GEO 0 2 0 2
Mongolia MGL 0 2 0 2
Ukraine UKR 0 1 3 4
Uzbekistan UZB 0 1 2 3
Democratic People's Republic of Korea PRK 0 1 1 2
Kyrgyzstan KGZ 0 1 1 2
Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH 0 1 0 1
Bulgaria BUL 0 1 0 1
India IND 0 1 0 1
Tunisia TUN 0 1 0 1
Austria AUT 0 0 3 3
Slovenia SLO 0 0 3 3
Spain ESP 0 0 3 3
Cuba CUB 0 0 2 2
Netherlands NED 0 0 2 2
Armenia ARM 0 0 1 1
Cambodia CAM 0 0 1 1
Canada CAN 0 0 1 1
Denmark DEN 0 0 1 1
Dominican Republic DOM 0 0 1 1
Kosovo KOS 0 0 1 1
Lithuania LTU 0 0 1 1
People's Republic of China CHN 0 0 1 1
Slovakia SVK 0 0 1 1

Most successful competitors

Olympic Games

Athlete Nat Gold Silver Bronze Total
Teddy Riner FRA 3 0 2 5
Tadahiro Nomura JPN 3 0 0 3
Ryoko Tamura-Tani JPN 2 2 1 5
Clarisse Agbegnenou FRA 2 1 0 3
Shohei Ono JPN 2 1 0 3
David Douillet FRA 2 0 1 3
Waldemar Legień POL 2 0 0 2
Wim Ruska NED 2 0 0 2
Hitoshi Saito JPN 2 0 0 2
Peter Seisenbacher AUT 2 0 0 2
Masae Ueno JPN 2 0 0 2
Xian Dongmei CHN 2 0 0 2
Ayumi Tanimoto JPN 2 0 0 2
Masato Uchishiba JPN 2 0 0 2
Lukáš Krpálek CZE 2 0 0 2
Kayla Harrison USA 2 0 0 2

Youth Olympic Games

Athlete Nat Gold Silver Bronze Total
Miku Tashiro JPN 2 0 0 2
Mikhail Igolnikov ROC
RUS
2 0 0 2
Artsiom Kolasau BLR 2 0 0 2
Lola Mansour BEL 1 1 0 2
Layana Colman BRA 1 1 0 2
Bae Seul-Bi KOR 1 0 1 2
Pedro Rivadulla ESP 1 0 1 2
Brigita Matić CRO 1 0 1 2
Hifumi Abe JPN 1 0 1 2
Sukhrob Tursunov UZB 1 0 1 2
Bekarys Saduakas KAZ 1 0 1 2
Ana Viktorija Puljiz CRO 1 0 1 2

Event types

Name Gender Still contested? Times held?
Extra-Lightweight Men 11
Half-Lightweight Men 11
Lightweight Men 14
Half-Middleweight Men 13
Middleweight Men 14
Half-Heavyweight Men 13
Heavyweight Men 14
Extra-Lightweight Women 9
Half-Lightweight Women 9
Lightweight Women 9
Half-Middleweight Women 9
Middleweight Women 9
Half-Heavyweight Women 9
Heavyweight Women 9
Team Mixed 1
≤55 kilograms Boys 3
≤66 kilograms Boys 3
≤81 kilograms Boys 3
≤100 kilograms Boys 3
≤44 kilograms Girls 3
≤52 kilograms Girls 3
≤63 kilograms Girls 3
≤78 kilograms Girls 3
Team Mixed Youth 3
Open Class Men 5