Judostories are born on the mat: the ippon family

Budapest will organise the 2022 World Championships (and they organised 2017 perfectly) but also Budapest is host of the IJF headquarters and the mainframe of IBSA judo (blind judo association) is based in Hungary but there is also a very special family living in this judo country.

They are seen as the third athlete on the tatami but you rather don’t want them to dominate the game. The referees are essential though in the development of judo. The level grows, they become more professional and although we don’t know them so well, the IJF and JudoInside doing the utmost to offer you the best stories from the mat. The Judo family was present at the Grand Prix in Budapest but there was a special family present on the mat. For sure you have seen some of them a lot of times if you follow international judo.

It is an exception at the highest level, but a rarity that is explained through excellence. They are referees with international experience and contrasting experience. AnnaMaria Fridrich officiated at the Olympic Games, her brother-in-law Balázs Gosztonyi at various World Championships. Katalin Fridrich, twin sister of AnnaMaria and Viktor Havasi also attended many European Championships and junior and cadet world championships. Viktor and Balázs are their respective husbands. Of  course, all of them participated actively in the tournaments of the world circuit.

Each one has their own personality, their own criteria. They talk, debate and make their own decisions within the framework of the rules of judo. And, when asked who is the referee when they get angry, everyone, raise their hands and smile.

At the third day of the Budapest Grand Prix, the four tatami shine like the first day. Athletes warm up engines in the entrance tunnel, the public consumes the first coffee in the morning. The countdown is over. The show starts. Four referees, one per tatami, walk at the same pace. Two women, two men. Everything normal, at least in appearance.

A united family, inside and outside the tatami. For the first time in the history of judo two sisters and their husbands arbitrated in a tournament at the highest level, at the same time. One of many Judo stories.

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