Joe Crowley

Some new names have arrived on the World Judo Tour since the Paris Olympic Games, most coming from the junior and cadet ranks. The final of this category though was fought by two competitors already experienced at stepping on to the podia of the world’s judo stages.

The first day of competition at the Steppe Arena in Ulaanbaatar delivered a message of future potential for the Mongolian Judo Association. Although Japan topped the medal table, the Mongolian team, many members of which are still cadets, equipped themselves extremely well, finishing the day with 5 medals.

At the Paris Olympic Games last summer, Alice Bellandi (ITA) became Olympic champion, an extraordinary achievement, a statistically impossible feat. Less than a year later she doubled her stake and became the only 2024 Olympic champion to take a 2025 world title.

Fourteen incredible judoka have been crowned in Budapest, 14 world champions among medalists from 20 countries. Japan topped the table with 6 gold medals, 4 silvers and 4 bronzes but it was a diverse and spectacular tournament.