Meskhetian Turks, also referred to as Turkish Meskhetians, Ahiska Turks, and Turkish Ahiskans, are a subgroup of ethnic Turkish people formerly inhabiting the Meskheti region of Georgia, along the border with Turkey. The Turkish presence in Meskheti began with the Ottoman military expedition of 1578, although Turkic tribes had settled in the region as early as the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
Kosei Inoue is a Japanese judoka. He won the gold medal in the under 100 kg class at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He is well known for his specialty throws, Uchi Mata and Ōuchi gari.
Michael Jurack is a German judoka.
Tuvshinbayar Naidan is a Mongolian former professional judoka. He is the 2008 Olympic Champion, 2012 Olympic silver medalist, 2014 Asian games champion, 2017 World Championships bronze medalist, 2016 Asian Championships gold medalist, 2007 silver medalist and two-time bronze medalist in –100 kg division. Naidan is serving a sixteen-year jail term for a 2021 fatal assault on a fellow judoka and childhood friend Erdenebileg Enkhbat.
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.
Turks in Azerbaijan, or Turkish Azerbaijanis, refers to ethnic Turkish people who live in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The community is largely made of Ottoman Turkish descendants who have lived in Azerbaijan for centuries, as well as the Turkish Meskhetian community which arrived in large numbers during Soviet rule. More recently, there has been Turkish migration from the Republic of Turkey, as well as from other post-Ottoman modern nation-states and from the Turkish diaspora.
Rafael Carlos da Silva is a Brazilian heavyweight judoka. He has two Olympic bronze medals in addition to having 4 individual medals in World Judo Championships, in addition to being a six-time Pan American Judo champion.
Davaadorjiin Tömörkhüleg is a Mongolian judoka who competes in the men's –66 kg category.
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.
Rustam Orujov is an Azerbaijani retired judoka. He competed in the men's 73 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics; after defeating Gideon van Zyl in the second round, he was eliminated by Mansur Isaev in the third round. He won the silver medal in the men's 73 kg event at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Hassane Azzoun is an Algerian judoka, who played for the half-heavyweight category. He is a six-time medalist at the African Judo Championships, and also, a bronze medalist for his division at the 2007 All-Africa Games in Algiers.
Yves-Matthieu Dafreville is a French judoka, who played for the middleweight category. He is also a member of the Levallois Sporting Club in Levallois-Perret, France, and is coached and trained by Patrick Rosso and Stéphane Fremont.
Orkhan Safarov is an Azerbaijani judoka. He won a bronze at the 2013 World Judo Championships in the –60 kg category.
Uta Kühnen is a German judoka who competed in the women's half-heavyweight category. She held three German senior titles in her own division, picked up a total of twenty-nine medals in her career, including a bronze from the 2000 European Judo Championships in Wrocław, Poland, and represented Germany in two editions of the Olympic Games. Kuhnen also trained as a full-fledged member of the judo squad for the Berlin Sports Club under her personal coach and sensei Norbert Littkoff, who also headed the German national team.
Martin James Kelly is an Australian judoka, who competed in the men's half-heavyweight category. He held six Australian titles in his own division, picked up a total of nineteen medals in his career, including a bronze from the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, and represented his nation Australia at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Throughout his sporting career, Kelly trained full-time for the senior team at Kido-Mingarra Judo Academy in Tuggerah, New South Wales, under head coach and sensei Pete Acciari.
Vedat Albayrak is a Turkish judoka, born in Kokshetau, Kazakhstan. At the 2016 Summer Olympics he represented Greece under the name Roman Moustopoulos. He was eliminated in the second round of the men's 81 kg event by Juan Diego Turcios.
Hidayat "Hido" Heydarov is an Azerbaijani judoka in men’s 73 kg. He is a four-time European Judo Champion . In 2024, he won the Gold Medal in the Olympic Games in Paris, the World Championships in Abu Dhabi and the European Championships in Zagreb.
Tuğçe Beder is a Turkish female judoka competing in the –48 kg division. She is qualified for participation at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France.
Muhammed Ali Demirel is a Turkish Olympian judoka who competes in the –66 kg event.
İbrahim Tataroğlu is a Turkish Olympian judoka who competes in the heavyweight (+100 kg) division.
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