The International Judo Federation (IJF) was founded in July 1951. The IJF was originally composed of judo federations from Europe plus Argentina. Countries from four continents were affiliated over the next ten years. Today the IJF has 200 National Federations on all continents. There are over 20 million people around the globe who practice judo, according to the IJF.
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 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 Budapest, Hungary in 2021.
Topsportcentrum Rotterdam is an indoor arena located in Rotterdam next to the Feijenoord Stadion. The arena opened in 2000 and has a capacity of 2,500 seats. It holds many sports events in various sports and levels, such as international World and European Championships and Dutch National Championships.
The 2005 European Judo Championships were the 16th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Rotterdam, Netherlands from 20 May to 22 May 2005.
The 2006 European Judo Championships were the 17th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Tampere, Finland between 25–28 May 2006.
The 2004 European Judo Championships were the 15th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Bucharest, Romania from 14 May to 16 May 2004.
The 2002 European Judo Championships were the 13th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Maribor, Slovenia from 16 May to 19 May 2002.
Teddy Pierre-Marie Riner is a French judoka. He has won ten World Championships gold medals, the first and only judoka to do so, and three Olympic gold medals. He has also won five gold medals at the European Championships. He was a member of the Levallois Sporting Club before joining Paris Saint-Germain in August 2017.
The 2004 European Judo Open Championships were the 1st edition of the European Judo Open Championships, and were held in Budapest, Hungary on 4 December 2004.
The 2005 European Judo Open Championships were the 2nd edition of the European Judo Open Championships, and were held in Moscow, Russia on 3 December 2005.
The 2007 European Judo Open Championships were the 4th edition of the European Judo Open Championships, and were held in Warsaw, Poland on 1 December 2007.
The European Judo Championships is the Judo European Championship organized by the European Judo Union. The 2015 and 2019 editions were held during the respective European Games. This is also expected for future editions of the European Games.
The 2008 World Judo Open Championships were held at Palais des sports Marcel-Cerdan in Levallois-Perret, France, 20 and 21 December 2008.
The 2011 World Judo Open Championships were held at Judo Centre in Tyumen, Russia, 29–30 October, 2011. The IJF jury accorded the Ippon award to Keiji Suzuki(Japan) and Megumi Tachimoto(Japan), for their spectacular techniques.。
Alice Schlesinger is an Israeli-British retired judoka and sambo competitor. Born in Israel, she competed for that country until 2014, but following a dispute with the national federation she has started competing for Great Britain, of whom she is a citizen through her English-born mother.
The 1962 European Judo Championships were the 11th edition of the European Judo Championships, and were held in Essen, West Germany on 12 and 13 May 1962. The Championships were held in two separate categories: amateur and professional. The amateur contests were subdivided into weight classes, experience classes, and a separate team competition. The professional contests were subdivided only into weight classes. It was the first edition of the European Judo Championships to host judokas from the Socialist countries, though they did not participate in the professional contests as professional sports were banned in those countries. Contrary to the modern Olympic-based practice of entering one athlete per weight class, more than one representative of a single national team was allowed to qualify for participation in each event. The professional category was established for those teaching judo, and hence not considered amateurs in the Olympics' category. This later precluded Anton Geesink from participating in the amateur weight classes at the judo event of the 1964 Olympics.
María Monica Merenciano Herrero is a judo athlete from Spain. She has represented Spain at the Paralympic Games and won an IPC European Judo Championship.
Sagi Aharon Muki is an Israeli half-middleweight judoka. Muki is the 2019 World Champion. He also won the 2015 and 2018 European championships.
The 2017 World Judo Open Championships were held in Marrakesh, Morocco, from 11 to 12 November 2017.
Loretta Doyle is a Scottish judoka who won the under-52kg event at the 1982 World Judo Championships, and the under-56 kg event at the 1990 Commonwealth Games. Doyle also won European Judo Championships titles in 1983 and 1992.
Novi Sad, Serbia 
