Shay-Oren Smadja is an Israeli judo coach and former competitive judoka. Smadja won an Olympic bronze medal in judo at the 1992 Summer Olympics, making him the first Israeli male to win an Olympic medal, and the second Israeli overall after Yael Arad who won silver in judo the day before.
Hitoshi Saito was a Japanese judoka who won two consecutive gold medals at the Olympic games.
Israel has competed at the Olympic Games as a nation since 1952. Its National Olympic Committee was formed in 1933, during the British Mandate of Palestine. Israel has sent a team to each Summer Olympic Games since 1952, and to each Winter Olympic Games since 1994. Israel became a member of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in 1994. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, Israel won seven Olympic medals, the most up until this point, breaking Israel's record for Olympic medals per Olympics.
Choi Min-ho is a South Korean judoka. He was born in Gimcheon, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea.
The Olympic Committee of Kosovo is the National Olympic Committee representing Kosovo. Officially established in 1992, the OCK became a full member of the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Movement on 9 December 2014. It is responsible for Kosovo's participation at the Olympic Games.
Kosovo made its Olympic debut as a member state in 2016. Its team is organized by the Olympic Committee of Kosovo (OCK), created in 1992 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee on 9 December 2014. It won its first medal in its debut appearance in 2016, when judoka Majlinda Kelmendi took gold in the women's -52 kg category. In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Nora Gjakova won gold in the women's judo -57 kg class, and Distria Krasniqi won gold in the women's judo -48 kg class.
Islam El Shehaby is an Egyptian former judoka.
Keith Morgan is a retired judoka from Canada, who competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics, and won four medals at the Pan American Games.
Yuri Alvear Orejuela is a Colombian judoka, three times World Champion in her division.
Ilgar Mushkiyev is an Azerbaijani judoka. 2-time world award winner, 3-time European award winner, 2-time Grand Prix champion, 2-time world cup winner, 5-time republican champion, best athlete of the year (2011), honored master of sports, and member of the Azerbaijan national team.
Lasha Shavdatuashvili is a Georgian judoka. Shavdatuashvili is one of the most successful judoka of the early 21st century, having won Olympic medals at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics as well as a dozen medals on the IJF World Tour.
Sergiu Toma is a Moldovan-born Emirati judoka. He competed for the United Arab Emirates in the 81 kg category at the 2016 Olympic Games and defeated Takanori Nagase to enter the semi-finals. He lost his semi-final match to Khasan Khalmurzaev, but then beat Matteo Marconcini in the bronze medal match. At the 2008 and 2012 Olympics he competed for Moldova but was eliminated in the early rounds.
Anamari "Ana" Velenšek is a Slovenian judoka. She won several medals at the world and European championships in 2011–15 and competed at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, winning a bronze medal in 2016. In 2015, she won silver at the World Championships. That year, she also won gold in the Military World Games and bronze at the European Games. She also competed in the women's +78 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Natalie Anne Powell is a Welsh judoka. She competed for Wales in the women's 78 kg event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where she won a gold medal.
This article details the qualifying phase for judo at the 2016 Summer Olympics. The competition at these Games will comprise a total of 386 athletes coming from their respective NOCs; each has been allowed to enter a maximum of 14. Host nation Brazil has reserved a spot in each of all 14 events, while twenty are made available to NOCs through a Tripartite Commission Invitation.
Costa Rica competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's fifteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics, since its debut in 1936.
Haiti competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was the nation's sixteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1900.
Nauru competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. The country's participation in Brazil was its sixth consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Nauru's delegation included two participants: Ovini Uera, a judoka in the men's middleweight judo category; and Elson Brechtefeld in the men's 56 kg weightlifting competition. Uera qualified as Nauru's top-ranked judoka, in the IJF World Ranking List through a quota slot from the Oceania Judo Union. Brechtefeld qualified by grant from the International Weightlifting Federation of an unused quota place. Uera was eliminated by Varlam Liparteliani in the round of 16 and Brechtefeld finished 15th in his event.
Saeid Mollaei is an Iranian-born Mongolian half-middleweight judoka. He was born in Tehran to ethnic Azerbaijani parents originally from Khoy. Iranian authorities ordered Mollaei to lose intentionally in the semi-final at the Tokyo 2019 World Championships, so as to avoid a potential match in the finals against Israeli 2019 world champion Sagi Muki. In August 2019, he moved to Europe with a two-year visa from Germany, saying he was afraid to return to Iran after exposing and criticizing its pressure on him to deliberately lose in the World Championships. In December 2019, he became a citizen of Mongolia. He dedicated his 2020 Olympic medal to Mongolia, to the Mongol people, and to Israel. From May 2022 on, Mollaei represents Azerbaijan.
Rachid Sidibé is a Burkinabé judoka. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in the men's +100 kg event, in which he was eliminated in the first round by Iakiv Khammo. He was the flag bearer for Burkina Faso at the Parade of Nations.
