Montpellier ready to host European Judo Championships

This week the European Judo Championships will take place in Montpellier, one of the prime qualification events for the Olympic Games organized by the European Judo Union (EJU). It will be the 10th time that the individual senior European Championships are held in this judo-devoted country. The first ever European Championships were held in 1951, in Paris.

Around 390 judoka from 46 nations prescribed for the event which is taking place 3-5 November at the Sud de France Arena. The Europeans are back to Montpellier, where 9 years ago the same event was held, however it will show the development of judo in almost a decade of this very promising event in terms of organisation.

Journalist from all over Europe will be ready to see a showcase of this blockbuster of the EJU which is also broadcasted live on JudoTV.com for those journos and obviously judo fans who cannot attend in France.

European Judo President Laszlo Toth welcomes the delegations back in the south of France. Toth:  “There is hardly any better country to be in while we are counting back the days to return here for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. I hope, competing in France will remind every athlete of their dreams and ambitions concerning next year.“

The program is provisional. The schedule of the contests may be modified according to the total number of entries or TV requirements. The preliminaries over three days will be usually from 10:00h until 15:00 and final block 16:00h until 18:00 max.

There is obviously a lot of interest for this event from the French media that is warming up for the biggest event of their life.

The President of the National Judo Federation of France, Stéphane Nomis also welcomes everyone. “The European Judo Championships provide an exceptional opportunity to bring together the best judokas from our continent in a unique competition where technical mastery, inner strength, and unwavering determination come together on the tatamis. It is a showcase of sporting excellence and the utmost respect for the fundamental values of judo that we cherish so much.”

In this moment both teams of Individual Neutral Athletes (Russia and Belarus) as well as Ukraine are registered but it may well be that one of those teams will pull back. Last years in Sofia was without Russian athletes. Three athletes who captured the European title in 2022 also captured the World title this year in Doha, Francisco Garrigos of Spain won the double as well as Tato Grigalashvili of Georgia and his compatriot Luka Maisuradze.

France, Georgia and Italy will have strong teams in Montpellier and are poised to shine. Last year 23 nations won a medal. Team France is ready for action at the Sud de France Arena. A team filled with European, World and Olympic medallists, some of whom are current title holders of these prestigious events. The tally will undoubtedly and heavily expand by the end of next week.