The Japanese judokas dominated the final Grand Slam of the year, winning 13 of the competition’s 14 gold medals.
The final day of the Tokyo Grand Slam concludes the International Judo Federation (IJF) World Tour 2024.
As the crowds streamed into the gymnasium of the Tokyo Metropolitan Arena, a special treat awaited the young fans in attendance: two of them were given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete against two Olympic champions, Tsunoda Natsumi and Nagase Takanori.
In the medal fights in the up to 81 kg class, Fujiwara Sotaro ensured that Japan got off to a perfect start.
Mr. Vlad Marinescu, IJF Director General, was on hand to present the medals.
At -70kg, Mayu Honda left it deep into the gold ranking to throw her compatriot to the ippon.
Her medal was presented to her by Olympic champion Mr. Kosei Inoue.
At -90kg, Sanshiro Murao took the title with an excellent waza-ari and ended Georgian Luka Maisuradze’s hopes.
Mr. Almaz Alsenov, CEO of Harvest Group, presented the gold medal.
At -78 kg, Kurena Ikeda took the win with brilliant ground work.
The medals were awarded by IJF sports director Skander Hachicha.
In the -100 kg race, Matvey Kanikovskiy cleverly beat the Italian Pirelli and took the title in Tokyo.
He was awarded the gold medal by the President of the Russian Judo Federation, Mr. Sergey Soloveychik.
Mao Arai was confident in the +78 kg category. A stop for gold.
She was awarded her medal by Mr. Silvio Acacio Borges, President of Brazilian Judo.
In the weight over 100 kg it was Kanta Nakano who came out on top with this Uchi-Mata.
He was awarded the gold medal by Mr. Shin Koyamada, CEO of Guardian Girls International
Japanese judokas overwhelmingly dominated the two days of the Tokyo Grand Slam, which marks the end of the International Judo Federation’s 2024 season.
See you in 2025 with more unforgettable competitions in the world of judo.
