Every year the Judo Austria Awards are presented at the Bundesliga Final Four in Gmunden (November 30th, semifinals from 2:30 p.m., final fights: 7:15 p.m.: women, 8:15 p.m.: men). There are a total of eleven categories to choose from. Below you will find part four of the Final Four countdown with the categories Young Athlete and Young Athlete of the Year.
Young athlete of the year: ELENA DENGG
The series of bad luck didn’t seem to stop: In February in Györ, Elena Dengg (-70/ESV Sanjindo Bischofshofen/S) injured her thumb, then the 20-year-old from Salzburg broke her ribs and finally she also had to deal with an outer ligament injury in her left one Kick your knees around. Elena canceled the senior European Championships in Zagreb and the junior European Championships in Tallinn due to injury. In total, we only took part in six tournaments. “The year 2024 was certainly the most difficult of my judo career to date,” emphasizes the Sanjindo model athlete.
Since 2021, Elena Dengg has won a total of five medals in the junior division, youth and juniors, none in gold so far. This finally ended in 2024. On October 4th, the world number two was crowned junior world champion in Dushanbe (TJK) after bronze last year, and on November 16th the middleweight won gold at the Under-23 European Championships in Pila (POL). She has been undefeated for eleven fights now. Even in the general class, Dengg stormed to 40th place in the world rankings.
The annual summary is still positive all around: “Now 2024 is also the best year of my career. Now I finally have two junior titles,” beams Elena. Things could happily continue in this tone…
Young athlete of the year: VARDGES GHAZARYAN
The good news: Vardges Ghazaryan (+90/SU Karuna/W) finally established himself in the last youth year. His club was able to celebrate the first (Youth) World Cup participant in the club’s history. With consistent placings (3rd in Teplice, 5th in Bielsko Biala, 7th in Porec), the 17-year-old heavyweight qualified for the Under-18 World Championships in Lima. At the European Youth Championships in Sofia, Vardges narrowly missed a medal in fifth place; a Waza-ari rating in the bronze fight was not enough to win. Accordingly motivated, the newcomer flew to Lima (PER) and there he put on a show worth seeing at the beginning, sweeping Croatian Luka Ivankovic off the mat with Ashi-waza after just 38 seconds.
The bad news: Vardges suffered a shoulder injury in the second world championship fight. Next stop: operating room – he will have an operation before the new year. The preparation for his first junior year will start off with a rehab phase.
