Sambo is a combat sport, and a recognized style of amateur wrestling governed by the UWW in the World Wrestling Championships along with Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling. Practiced worldwide, sambo is a martial art with Soviet origins. Many of its moves have been incorporated in other forms of combat sport such as mixed martial arts.
David Donald Hubert Roger Douillet is a French politician and retired judoka.
Yasuhiro Yamashita is a Japanese judoka. He currently works as an instructor or advisor for numerous organizations, including Tokai University, the International Judo Federation, and the All Japan Judo Federation. He retired from competitive judo on 17 June 1985 after a remarkable career where he won five gold medals in international competitions and marked 203 consecutive victories until his retirement where he went undefeated his entire career against non-Japanese wrestlers. He received the Japanese National Prize of Honor on 9 October 1984. He is considered by many to be the greatest judoka ever.
Jason Newth Morris is an American retired judoka. He was a four-time Olympian and 2008 Olympic Coach, best known for winning the silver medal in the –78 kg weight category in the 1992 Summer Olympics and a Bronze Medal in the 1993 World Judo Championships. He is a Hachidan his favorite techniques are Uchi Mata, Tai Otoshi, and his "Sticker or Sticky Foot". He was also an NCAA Division I All-American wrestler and 2x EIWA conference champion at Syracuse University.
Teddy Pierre-Marie Riner is a French heavyweight judoka. An eleven-time world champion in the heavyweight (+100 kg) division, two-time openweight world champion and one-time world champion with the French men's team, he is the first and only judoka in history to win twelve gold medals at the World Judo Championships. Having won the gold medal in the Men's +100 kg event at the Summer Olympics three times and, as a member of the French team, in the mixed team event twice. Additionally, he is a two-time Olympic bronze medalist, a five-time European champion, a four-time World Masters gold medalist and eleven-time Grand Slam winner in his weight category.
The 18th Maccabiah Games, were held in July 2009. According to the organizing committee these were the largest games held yet. These Games were the world's fifth-largest sporting event, behind the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Police and Fire Games, and Universiade. On the 13 July, more than 6,000 Jewish athletes from all over the world joined Team Israel's 3,000 participants at the Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv District, Israel, for the opening ceremony. American swimmer Jason Lezak was given the honor of lighting the Maccabiah torch at the Opening Ceremony.
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.
Kelita Zupancic is a judoka from Canada. Zupancic won gold medals for Canada at the 2010, 2013 and 2015 Pan Am judo championships.
Gévrise Émane is a French judoka. She was the European champion in the women's 63 kg weight class.
Georgii Zantaraia is a Georgian-born Ukrainian judoka.
Asley González is a Cuban judoka. He won the 2013 World Championship in the −90 kg event. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won the silver medal in the Men's 90 kg competition.
Eve Aronoff-Trivella is a former Olympic judoka from the United States.
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 2020 Tokyo Olympics mixed team event, Muki was a member of the Israeli team that won a 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.
Yeldos Smetov is a Kazakh judoka and Olympic champion in 2024 in the under 60 kg weight category. He won gold medals at the 2014 Asian Games and the 2015 World Judo Championships, a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics, a bronze medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and a gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Barbara Matić is a Croatian judoka. She won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the women's 70 kg event, and is a two-time world champion and a European champion (2024) in the women's 70 kg division. Matić is also a two-time junior world champion and a junior European champion (2013). She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Steven Jay "Steve" Cohen is an American former Olympic judoka and Olympic coach. He won the US National Judo Championships in 1974, 1975, 1977, 1985, and 1987. He won a gold medal at the 1973 Maccabiah Games, a bronze medal at the 1975 Pan American Games, and a silver medal at the 1986 Goodwill Games.
Tohar Butbul is an Israeli Olympic judoka. He competes in the under 73 kg weight category, where he won silver medals at the 2019 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 73 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 Olympic and former European champion judoka, competing in the under 100 kg weight category, of which he was the number 1 ranked judoka in the world. Paltchik won a bronze medal at the 2018 European 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 Championships in Prague. Paltchik also won a bronze medal in the mixed team judo competition in the 2020 Summer Olympics. At the 2023 World 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 swimmer Andrea Murez.
Andy Granda is a Cuban judoka. He won the gold medal in the men's +100 kg event at the 2022 World Judo Championships held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. He is a two-time gold medalist in the men's +100 kg event at the Pan American Games.
