The International Judo Federation (IJF) is the international governing body for judo, founded in July 1951. 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.
Amar Benikhlef is an Algerian judoka who competed in the middleweight division. He won the silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In September 2021, Benikhlef was suspended for 10 years, until July 2031 for "a clear and very serious breach of the IJF Statutes, the IJF Code of Ethics and the Olympic Charter.".
Boycotts of Israel in sports refer to various disqualifications and denial of Israeli athletes due to the refusal of some countries to recognize the state of Israel. As part of a more or less systematic boycott of Israel, Israeli athletes and teams have been barred from some competitions. In many international competitions, where Israel does take part, such as the Olympic Games, some Arab and Muslim competitors avoid competing against Israelis. Some countries, most notably Iran, even compel their athletes not to compete against Israelis or in Israel.
Judo was a sport at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and featured around 393 judoka competing in 15 events, seven each for both men and women as well as a new mixed team event. The 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the judo competitions were held in July 2021 at Nippon Budokan.
Egypt competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Since the nation's debut in 1912, Egyptian athletes had appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games except 1932 and 1980, joining the United States-led boycott in the latter.
Sagi Aharon Muki is an Israeli Olympic and former world champion half-middleweight judoka. Muki is the 2019 World Champion. He also won the 2015 and 2018 European championships. In the mixed team event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Muki was a member of the Israeli team that won the bronze medal.
Or "Ori" Sasson is a retired Israeli Olympic judoka. He won a bronze medal in the +100 kg category at the 2016 Summer Olympics and another one at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He is the second of three Israelis to win two Olympic medals.
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.
Baruch Shmailov is an Israeli Olympic judoka. He competes in the under 66 kg weight category, and won a gold medal in the 2022 World Masters in Jerusalem. Shmailov also won a bronze in the 2017 World Masters, as well as a silver at the 2018 World Masters.
Tohar Butbul is an Israeli Olympic judoka. He competes in the under 73 kg weight category, where he won silver medals at the 2019 Judo World Masters and the 2021 European Championships, and won bronze medals in the 2017 Paris Grand Slam and 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam. As of March 2018 he was ranked #9 in the world in the U73 kg division. He was a member of the Israeli team that won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Butbul represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in judo in the men's 73 kg event in which he came in ninth, and in the mixed team event, in which Team Israel came in ninth.
Peter Paltchik is a Ukrainian-born Israeli former European champion and Olympic judoka, competing in the under 100 kg weight category, of which he is the current number 1 ranked Judoka in the world. Paltchik won the bronze medal at the 2018 European Judo Championships in Tel Aviv. In 2019 he won the Israeli championship in the 100+ Kg category. He then won the gold medal at the 2020 European Judo Championships in Prague. Paltchik also won a bronze medal in the mixed team judo competition in the 2021 Olympics. At the 2023 World Judo Championships he won a bronze medal. Paltchik represented Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris in judo in the men's 100 kg event and in the mixed team event, and was the flag bearer for his country, alongside the swimmer Andrea Murez.
A total of 393, 128 athletes could qualify for judo at the 2020 Summer Olympics. The 2020 Olympics were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each NOC could enter a maximum of 14 judokas. Host nation Japan has reserved a spot in each of all 14 events, while twenty are made available to NOCs through a Tripartite Commission Invitation.
Algeria competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place in the summer of 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the nation's debut in 1964, Algerian athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal because of the African boycott. Unlike Algeria's previous successes in the Summer Olympics, they failed to secure a single medal.
Khikmatillokh Turaev is an Uzbekistani judoka. He won the gold medal in the men's 73 kg event at the 2019 Military World Games held in Wuhan, China.
The mixed team competition in judo at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo was held on 31 July 2021 at the Nippon Budokan.
Tornike Tsjakadoea is a Dutch-Georgian judoka. He represented the Netherlands at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan and competed at the World Judo Championships in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2024.
Manuel Lombardo is an Italian judoka. He is a two-time silver medalist at the World Judo Championships. He is also a gold medalist at both the Mediterranean Games and the European Judo Championships. Lombardo represented Italy at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan and the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
Fethi Nourine is an Algerian judoka, who has competed in the under 73 kg weight category, and won three African Judo Championships. Nourine has been suspended by the International Judo Federation until July 2031 for avoiding the prospect of possibly facing an Israeli judoka in the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Mohamed Abdalarasool is a Sudanese judoka who competes in the under 73 kg (161 lb) category.
Boubekeur Rebahi is an Algerian, male Judo player, who played in both local and international championships. He played in Tunisia, Oran, Morocco and Belgium. He weighs 66 kg. It should be remembered that Algeria was tagged the most successful nation for African Judo Championships in 2022. Prior to that in 2021, Algerian Judo player named Fethi Nourine was banned for 10 years from competition by the International Judo Federation with his coach, Amar Benikhlef receiving 10 years ban, as well when they withdrew from facing an Israeli opponent in the second round of men's competition at the Boudakan. The duo revealed that they pulled out from the competition in support for the Palestinians.
