Russian team announced for the Olympic Games

The Russian Judo Federation have announced the 14 athletes for the Olympic Games. At a presentation at the Russian Olympic Games, all athletes were presented to participate in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Team manager Ezio Gamba: “I am happy, as we came back from a difficult period. Thank you to all my colleagues, of course the two head coaches Khasambi Taov (men) and Dimitri Morozov (women) who drove the team with full passion. It was not easy but it is better to have a difficult decision in 3-4-5 instead of one in each category. The decision was absolutely in all categories, we check all information, all results between both athletes where it was very tied. All athletes were informed about the criteria how it was decided. All decisions came in a correct way. Now we focus on the Olympic Games. All our athletes showed their potential in the qualification period. We have in seven categories, 7 categories with judoka in the top 8. All of you know how important it is to be in the top 8 and to be a seeded player at the Olympic Games.”

The leaders of the Federation and representatives of the coaching staff of the Russian national team talked about the stages of team preparation The Russian team has successfully performed at the last two Olympiads, having won three gold medals in 2012 in London and two more, four years later in Rio de Janeiro.

The Women’s team was announced by Dimitri Morozov:

48 Irina Dolgova

52 Natalia Kuziutina

57 Daria Mezhetskaia

63 Daria Davydova

70 Madina Taimazova

78 Aleksandra Babintseva

The men’s team was announced by Khasambi Taov:

60 Robert Mshvidobadze

66 Yakub Shamilov

73 Musa Mogushkov

81 Alan Khubetsov

90 Mikhail Igolnikov

100 Niyaz Ilyasov

+100 Tamerlan Bashaev

Postpones Games

The Tokyo Games, which were supposed to take place in 2020, have been postponed by one year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but have retained the official title of Games 2020. The judo tournament at the Games will traditionally begin the day after the official opening ceremony and will be held from 24 to 31 July. During the first seven days, the athletes will identify the best in the individual competition. On each day one set of medals will be played in the men's and one in the women's weight category. On the final day, for the first time in the history of Olympic judo, a mixed national teams tournament will take place.

The Russian national team has been purposefully preparing for Tokyo since the start of the rating race, which begins about two years before each Olympics. After the end of the covid pause in October last year and the resumption of international starts, our judokas took part in the World Championships in Budapest, two European Championships and seven stages of the World Series, winning fifteen gold medals.