World Judo Championships

The World Judo Championships are the highest level of international judo competition, along with the Olympic judo competition. The championships are held once every year (except the years when the Olympics take place) by the International Judo Federation, and qualified judoka compete in their respective categories as representatives of their home countries. Team competitions have also been held since 1994. The men's championships began in 1956, though the format and periodicity of the championships have changed over time. The last edition of the championships took place in Astana, Kazakhstan in 2015.

History

The first World Judo Champion, Shokichi Natsui in 1956

The first edition of the world championships took place in Tokyo, Japan in 1956. There were no weight classes at the time and Japanese judoka Shokichi Natsui became the first world champion in history, defeating fellow countryman Yoshihiko Yoshimatsu in the final. The second world championship was also held in Tokyo two years later, with the Japanese winning the top two spots in the competition for the second time. In 1961, the championship was held outside of Japan for the first time, and Dutch judoka Anton Geesink defeated the prior world champion, Koji Sone, in Paris, France, to become the first non-Japanese world champion.

The 1965 World Judo Championships were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and weight classes were implemented for the first time with the addition of the -68 kg, -80 kg, and +80 kg categories. Judo had become an Olympic sport at the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo, and a permanent sport after a brief absence at the 1968 Summer Olympics.

Despite this progressive enlargement, it took until 1980 for women to participate in the world championships. The first women's world championships were held in New York in 1980, and were held in alternating years as the men's championships until the 1987 World Judo Championships in Essen, where the two competitions were merged into one world championship. The mixed championships have been held biannually since 1987. In 2005, the world championships made its debut on the African continent in Cairo, Egypt. In the International Judo Federation meeting held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2007 (during the 2007 World Judo Championships), it was decided that France would host the world championships for the fifth time in 2011.

Weight classes

There are currently 16 tournaments in the world championships, with 8 weight classes for each gender.

Men

1956–1963	1965	1967–1975	1979–1997	1999–present
Open category (no weight limits)	Open category (no weight limits)
	Heavyweight +80 kg	Heavyweight +93 kg	Heavyweight +95 kg	Heavyweight +100 kg
		Half heavyweight -93 kg	Half heavyweight -95 kg	Half heavyweight -100 kg
	Middleweight -80 kg	Middleweight -80 kg	Middleweight -86 kg	Middleweight -90 kg
		Half middleweight -70 kg	Half middleweight -78 kg	Half middleweight -81 kg
	Lightweight -68 kg	Lightweight -63 kg	Lightweight -71 kg	Lightweight -73 kg
			Half lightweight -65 kg	Half lightweight -66 kg
			Extra lightweight -60 kg

Women

1980–1997	1999–present
Open category (no weight limits)
Heavyweight +72 kg	Heavyweight +78 kg
Half heavyweight -72 kg	Half heavyweight -78 kg
Middleweight -66 kg	Middleweight -70 kg
Half middleweight -61 kg	Half middleweight -63 kg
Lightweight -56 kg	Lightweight -57 kg
Half lightweight -52 kg
Extra lightweight -48 kg

Competitions

The world championships have been held in every continent except Oceania and Antarctica.

Men's competitions

Year	Dates	City and host country	Venue	# Countries	# Athletes
1956	3 May	Tokyo, Japan	Kuramae Kokugikan	21	31
1958	30 November	Tokyo, Japan	Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium	18	39
1961	2 December	Paris, France	Stade Pierre de Coubertin	25	57
1965	14–17 October	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil		28	150
1967	9–11 August	Salt Lake City, United States	Gymnasium at the University of Utah	29	129
1969	23–25 October	Mexico City, Mexico		36	250
1971	2–4 September	Ludwigshafen, West Germany	Friedrich-Ebert-Halle	49
1973	22–24 June	Lausanne, Switzerland		42
1975	23–25 October	Vienna, Austria		42
1977	Cancelled
1979	6–9 December	Paris, France	Stade Pierre de Coubertin	60	about 240
1981	3–6 September	Maastricht, Netherlands	Euro Hall	54	250
1983	13–16 October	Moscow, Soviet Union	Luzhniki Palace of Sports	41
1985	26–29 September	Seoul, South Korea	Jamsil Arena	37

Women's competitions

Year	Dates	City and host country	Venue	# Countries	# Athletes
1980	29–30 November	New York, United States	Madison Square Garden	27	135
1982	4–5 December	Paris, France	Stade Pierre de Coubertin	35	174
1984	10–11 November	Vienna, Austria		33	about 180
1986	24–26 October	Maastricht, Netherlands	Geusselt Sports Hall	35	162

Mixed competitions

Year	Dates	City and host country	Venue	# Countries	# Athletes
1987	19–22 November	Essen, West Germany	Grugahalle	65
1989	10–15 October	Belgrade, Yugoslavia	Pionir Hall	61
1991	25–28 July	Barcelona, Spain	Palau Blaugrana	57	487
1993	30 September – 3 October	Hamilton, Canada	Copps Coliseum	78
1995	28 September – 1 October	Chiba, Japan	Makuhari Messe	100	625
1997	9–12 October	Paris, France	Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy	92	531
1999	7–10 October	Birmingham, United Kingdom	National Indoor Arena	87	572
2001	26–29 July	Munich, Germany	Olympiahalle	88	554
2003	11–14 September	Osaka, Japan	Osaka-jō Hall	97	671
2005	8–11 September	Cairo, Egypt	Cairo Stadium Indoor Halls Complex	93	544
2007	13–16 September	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	HSBC Arena	138	748
2009	27–30 August	Rotterdam, Netherlands	Ahoy Rotterdam	100	543
2010	9–13 September	Tokyo, Japan	Yoyogi National Gymnasium	111	847
2011	23–28 August	Paris, France	Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy	132	871
2013	26 August – 1 September	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Maracanãzinho	123	673
2014	25–31 August	Chelyabinsk, Russia	Traktor Arena	118	712
2015	24–30 August	Astana, Kazakhstan	Baluan Sholak Sport Palace	120	729
2017	TBD	Budapest, Hungary	TBD

Openweight competitions

Year	Dates	City and host country	Venue	# Countries	# Athletes
2008	20–21 December	Levallois-Perret, France	Marcel Cerdan Palace of Sports	18	51
2009	Cancelled
2011	29–30 October	Tyumen, Russia	Judo Centre	21	40

All-time medal

All-time medal count as 2015 World Judo Championships.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Japan	125	81	95	301
2	France	47	32	70	149
3	South Korea	27	8	51	86
4	China	19	12	16	47
5	Cuba	18	19	35	72
6	Great Britain	16	17	29	62
7	Netherlands	14	21	41	76
8	Germany	11	24	63	98
9	Soviet Union	11	13	33	57
10	Belgium	8	13	20	41
11	Russia	7	13	31	51
12	Brazil	6	11	23	40
13	Poland	6	3	22	31
14	Italy	5	6	17	28
15	North Korea	5	5	8	18
16	United States	4	8	17	29
17	Austria	4	2	8	14
18	Mongolia	3	3	8	14
19	Greece	3	2	2	7
20	Uzbekistan	3	1	6	10
21	Colombia	3	0	1	4
22	Spain	2	9	9	20
23	Georgia	2	8	13	23
24	Hungary	2	7	15	24
25	Kazakhstan	2	3	2	7
26	Argentina	2	2	0	4
27	Iran	2	0	3	5
28	Ukraine	1	4	8	13
29	Israel	1	4	3	8
30	Azerbaijan	1	2	9	12
31	Slovenia	1	2	7	10
32	Czech Republic	1	0	3	4
	Tunisia	1	0	3	4
34	Yugoslavia	1	0	2	3
35	Kosovo	1	0	0	1
	Venezuela	1	0	0	1
	22px International Judo Federation	1	0	0	1
38	Romania	0	4	9	13
39	Portugal	0	4	5	9
40	Turkey	0	3	4	7
41	Australia	0	3	3	6
42	Estonia	0	3	1	4
43	Belarus	0	2	7	9
44	Canada	0	2	6	8
45	Algeria	0	2	4	6
46	Egypt	0	2	3	5
47	Czechoslovakia	0	2	2	4
	Switzerland	0	2	2	4
49	Bulgaria	0	1	3	4
50	Moldova	0	1	2	3
51	Norway	0	1	1	2
52	Montenegro	0	1	0	1
	Sweden	0	1	0	1
54	United Arab Emirates	0	0	2	2
55	Armenia	0	0	1	1
	Chinese Taipei	0	0	1	1
	Finland	0	0	1	1
	Latvia	0	0	1	1
	Lithuania	0	0	1	1
	New Zealand	0	0	1	1
	Puerto Rico	0	0	1	1
	Serbia and Montenegro	0	0	1	1
	Tajikistan	0	0	1	1
		365	365	730	1460

a^ Unlike 2013, Majlinda Kelmendi did not compete at the 2014 World Judo Championships under the Kosovo flag but under the International Judo Federation flag. Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the Brussels Agreement. Kosovo has been recognised as an independent state by 108 out of 193 United Nations member states.

Records

Category	Men	Women
Most world titles	Teddy Riner : 9 titles (7 at +100 kg, 1 in the Open category, 1 with Men's Team) Masashi Ebinuma: 5 titles (3 at -66 kg, 2 with Men's Team) Naoya Ogawa : 4 titles (3 in the Open category, 1 at +95 kg) Shozo Fujii : 4 titles (3 at -80 kg, 1 at -78 kg) Yasuhiro Yamashita : 4 titles (3 at +95 kg, 1 in the Open category) David Douillet : 4 titles (3 at +95 kg, 1 in the Open category)	Ryoko Tamura : 7 titles (all at -48 kg) Tong Wen : 7 titles (3 in the Open category, 4 at +78 kg) Ingrid Berghmans : 6 titles (4 in the Open category, 2 at +72 kg) Misato Nakamura: 5 titles (3 at -52 kg, 2 with Women's Team) Kye Sun-Hui : 4 titles (1 at -52 kg, 3 at -57 kg) Gao Fenglian : 4 titles (3 at +72 kg, 1 in the Open category) Karen Briggs : 4 titles (all at -48 kg) Noriko Anno : 4 titles (1 at -72 kg, 3 at +78 kg)
Most medals	Teddy Riner : 10 medals (9 gold, 1 silver) Naoya Ogawa : 7 medals (4 gold, 3 bronze) Robert van de Walle : 7 medals (2 silver, 5 bronze)	Ingrid Berghmans : 11 medals (6 gold, 4 silver, 1 bronze) Ryoko Tamura : 8 medals (7 gold, 1 bronze) Tong Wen : 8 titles (7 gold, 1 bronze) Driulis González : 7 medals (3 gold, 1 silver, 3 bronze)
Youngest world champion	Teddy Riner : 18 years and 5 months (in 2007)	Ryoko Tamura : 18 years and 1 month (in 1993)

Judo Team World Championships

The World Judo Championships team competition began in 1994. women's competition began in 1997, and after 1998 it was held once every four years until 2006. The competition will be held every year from 2007. Judoka who participate in the individual world championships often do not participate in the team competition.

Year	Location	Men			Women
		Gold	Silver	Bronze	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1994	Paris, France	France	United Kingdom	Japan Russia	no women's competition
1997	Osaka, Japan	no men's competition			Cuba	Korea	Japan France
1998	Minsk, Belarus	Japan	Brazil	Russia France	Cuba	France	Belgium China
2002	Basel, Switzerland	Japan	Georgia	France Italy	Japan	Cuba	Italy China
2006	Paris, France	Georgia	Russia	France South Korea	France	Cuba	Japan China
2007	Beijing, China	Japan	Brazil	China South Korea	China	Cuba	Japan Mongolia
2008	Tokyo, Japan	Georgia	Uzbekistan	Russia Brazil	Japan	France	China Germany
2010	Antalya, Turkey	Japan	Brazil	Russia South Korea	Netherlands	Germany	Japan Turkey
2011	Paris, France	France	Brazil	South Korea Japan	France	Japan	Germany Cuba
2012	Salvador, Brazil	Russia	Japan	Brazil Georgia	Japan	China	Brazil Cuba
2013	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Georgia	Russia	Germany Japan	Japan	Brazil	Cuba France
2014	Chelyabinsk, Russia	Japan	Russia	Germany Georgia	France	Mongolia	Germany Japan
2015	Astana, Kazakhstan	Japan	South Korea	Georgia Mongolia	Japan	Poland	Germany Russia

Judo Team World Championships

Rank	Judo National Team	Men	Women	All
		Gold	Gold	Gold
1	Japan	6	5	11
2	France	2	3	5
3	Georgia	3		3
4	Cuba		2	2
5	Russia	1		1
6	China		1	1
7	Netherlands		1	1

Video footage

• World Championship 2013 in Rio de Janeiro
• World Championships 2012 in Salvador
• World Championships 2011 in Paris
• World Championships 2010 in Tokyo
• World Championships 2009 in Rotterdam
• World Championships 2007 in Rio de Janeiro
• World Championships 2005 in Cairo
• World Championships 2003 in Osaka
• World Championships 2001 in Munich
• World Championships 1999 in Birmingham
• World Championships 1997 in Paris
• World Championships 1995 in Chiba
• World Championships 1993 in Hamilton
• World Championships 1991 in Barcelona
• World Championships 1989 in Belgrade
• World Championships 1987 in Essen
• World Championships 1985 in Seoul
• World Championships 1983 in Moscow
• World Championships 1981 in Maastricht
• World Championships 1980 in New York
• World Championships 1979 in Paris
• World Championships 1961 in Paris
• World Championships 1956 in Tokyo

External links

• Judo Union
• European Judo Union
• http://www.judoinside.com/judoka/statsgen
• http://www.judobase.org/