| Sport | Judo |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | FRJ |
| Founded | May 21, 1968 |
| Affiliation | IJF |
| Regional affiliation | EJU |
| Official website | |
| www | |
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The Romanian Judo Federation represents the Romania internationally and is a member of the International Judo Federation and the European Judo Union.
Judo in Romania began with Heishichi Ishiguro, Japanese judoka, journalist and diplomat. Ishiguro taught judo in college for one year: ONEF (Oficiul National de Educatie Fizica [English: National Office of Physical Education]).The best student was Emilian Teacă, a police captain. In 1937 the first Romanian Police Officer Championship took place in Bucharest with the participation of other students and fire-fighters from Cîmpina. An absolute (open) class was the only weight class. [1]
Romanian Judo began a sustained expansion after the Second World War. Mihai Botez created the first Judo team section in Arad with the creation of sports club "Vagonul Arad". In the 1960s, professionals worked to create an independent Romanian Judo Federation. The first solidifying step was the creation of the Bucharest Commission for Judo within the framework of urban physical education and sports committee in 1962. [1]
In 1962, the first international individual competition took place between French Team FSGT [2] and the Romania national team in Bucharest. The first Team competition took place in Medias in 1967 at the local football stadium. [2]
On 21 May 1968 the Romanian Judo Federation was established named FRJ. The first coach training session was held by Takesse Matusaka and Sheizi Shinomaki. In the spring of 1969 the first Romanian international championships were held. [2]
The first Romanian medal at a senior European Championship was a bronze medal at Ludwigshafen in 1977; won by Árpád Szabo -60 kg. [3] The Romanian men's team reached third place. [4] This initial success was largely attributable to Korean Han Chan-He's work. [2]
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.
Jan Snijders is a retired judoka from the Netherlands. Together with his twin brother Peter Snijders, Anton Geesink, Hein Essink, Tonni Wagenaar, Coos Bontje, Jan van Ierland, Martin Poglajen, Joop Gouweleeuw, Wim Ruska, Ernst Eugster, Henk Numan, Peter Adelaar, Willy Wilhelm, Anthony Wurth and Theo Meyer he belongs to the generation of Dutch top judoka which gained their successes in the 1960s and 1970s.
The 2007 World Judo Championships are the 25th edition of the Judo World Championships, and were held at the Rio Olympic Arena, usually called Arena Multiuso, that was built for the 2007 Pan-American Games, in Jacarepaguá, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from September 13 to September 16, 2007.
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.
Yarden Gerbi is an Israeli former judoka world champion. She won an Olympic bronze medal competing for Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in women's 63 kg judo.
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Helena Vuković is Croatian judoka. She was placed 5th in the European Championship and is current world champion in the 70 kg+ category for cadets. In September 2017 she was proclaimed to be the most successful female junior athlete in Croatia for past year by Croatian Olympic Committee. She was also placed third in -78 kg category on Croatian senior championship.
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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.
Uta Abe is a Japanese judoka who competes in the Women's half-lightweight division. She won the gold medal in the Women's 52 kg competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics and two silver medals in a row with the Japanese team in the judo mixed team events at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics. Abe is also a four-time world champion, having won the gold medal in her weight category at the World Judo Championships in 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
Denis Vieru is a Moldovan judoka who competes in the men's half-lightweight (66 kg) category. He competed in the men's 66 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, without winning a medal, but he won a bronze medal in the same event at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.
The men's 73 kg competition in judo at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo was held on 26 July 2021 at the Nippon Budokan.
Franca Audu is a Nigerian judoka who competed in the women's U48kg and U52kg category. She won a bronze medal at the 2010 African Judo Championships and 2 bronze medals at the All-Africa Games in 2015 and 2023.
Marius Vizer is a Romanian businessman and former judoka. Since 2007, he has been the president of the International Judo Federation. Vizer also holds an Austrian passport. Vizer holds a 8th dan black belt in judo.
Shamil Borchashvili is an Austrian judoka. He is a first degree black belt.
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Adil Osmanov is a Moldovan judoka. He won a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics.