Over the last week, the 2024 Olympic Judo events went down, and tens of millions watched them. The Judo matches produced many big stories, and we’re going to break them down.
Here’s a rundown of the 2024 Olympic Judo Results and the biggest stories. We’ll also talk about some of the glaring problems with sport Judo that were on full display.
France Shocks World & Repeats as Mix Team Champions
Photo Owned by France 24
Team France returned to defend their title as mixed-team champions in their hometown. They faced the powerhouse Japan team, which was the favorite to win.
In the beginning, it looked like Japan would run away with the gold medal. They quickly went up with a 3-1 lead.
France would not go down quietly in front of their hometown crown. They rallied to win two matches to make it to the tiebreaker round.
“The random draw” (and I use that term loosely) selected the +100kg division. French gold medalist Teddy Riner, who won the previous match, was just “randomly” selected.
Tatsuri Saito gave it his all, but Riner was just too big and skilled. After +5 minutes during the golden point time, Riner hit an ippon and brought the crowd to their feet.
France repeated as Olympic champions and sent their home crowd home happy.
Teddy Riner Dominates & Becomes a Legend
Teddy Riner’s legacy just keeps growing after the 2024 Olympics. The multi-time Olympic gold medalist and world champion added two more gold medals to his legacy.
Before the mixed team event, Riner easily passed through the +100 kg division. He is, without a doubt, the most dominant Judoka of the modern era.
Uta Abe Losses in 2nd Round
Photo Owned by the AP
Judo fans were shocked to see fan-favorite Japanese Judoka Uta Sabe fail to medal. The former gold medalist was the favorite to win, but a slight error lost her 2nd round match.
Abe was utterly devastated by the loss, and the Japanese fans shared her pain.
Brazil Beats Italy For Bronze in Mix Team
The bronze medal mix team match also had its share of drama. Brazil went up early with a 3-1 lead over Italy, but Italy returned to tie it up.
Luck was on Brazil’s side as the women’s -57 kg was chosen as the random tiebreaker match. Former Olympic champ Rafaela Silva won the previous match by armbar against her Italian opponent.
In the opening seconds, Silva hit an uchi-mata to win bronze for Brazil in her last Olympic appearance.
Olympic Judo Men’s Events Results
60 kg
Gold: Yeldos Smetov (Kazakhstan)
Silver: Luka Mkheidze (France)
Bronze: Ryuju Nagayama (Japan), Francisco Garrigós (Spain)
66 kg
Gold: Hifumi Abe (Japan)
Silver: Willian Lima (Brazil)
Bronze: Denis Vieru (Moldova), Manuel Lombardo (Italy)
73 kg
Gold: Hidayet Heydarov(Azerbaijan)
Silver: Joan-Benjamin Gaba(France)
Bronze: Adil Osmanov(Moldova) Soichi Hashimoto(Japan)
81 kg
Gold: Nagase Takanori (Japan)
Silver: Tato Grigalashvili (Georgia)
Bronze: Lee Joonhwan (South Korea), Somon Makhmadbekov (Tajikistan)
90 kg
Gold: Lasha Bekauri(Georgia)
Silver: Sanshiro Murao(Japan)
Bronze: Maxime-Gael Ngayap(France), Theodoros Tselidis(Greece)
100 kg
Gold: Zelym Kotsoiev(Azerbaijan)
Silver: Illia Sulmanidze(Georgia)
Bronze: Peter Paltchik(Israel), Muzaffarbek Turoboyez(Uzbekistan)
+100 kg
Gold: Teddy Riner(France)
Silver: Kim Min-jong(South Korea)
Bronze: Temur Rakhimov(Tajikistan), Alisher Yusupov(Uzbekistan)
Women’s Olympic Judo Event Results
48 kg
Gold: Natsumi Tsunada,(Japan)
Silver: Bavuudorjiin Baasankhuu(Mongolia)
Bronze: Shrine Boukli(France), Tara Babulfath(Sweden)
52 kg
Gold: Diyora Keldiyorova(Uzbekistan)
Silver: Distraia Krasniqi(Kosovo)
Bronze: Larissa Pimenta (Brasil), Amanda Buchard(France)
57 kg
Gold: Christa Deguchi (Canada)
Silver: Mimi Huh (South Korea)
Bronze: Haruka Funakubo (Japan), Sarah Leonie Cysique (France)
63 kg
Gold: Andrea Leski(Slovenia)
Silver: Prisca Awiti Alcaraz(Mexico)
Bronze: Clarisse Agbegnenou(France), Laura Falou(Kosovo)
70 kg
Gold: Barbara Matic(Croatia)
Silver: Miriam Butkereit(Germany)
Bronze: Gabriella Willems(Belgium) , Michaela Polleres (Austria)
78 kg
Gold: Alice Bellandi (Italy)
Silver: I’m at Lanir(Israel)
Bronze: Ma Zhenzhao(China), Patricia Sampaio(Portugal)
+78 kg
Gold: Beatriz Souza(Brazil)
Silver: Raz Hershko(Israel)
Bronze: Kim Ha-yun(South Korea), Romance Dicko(France)
Olympic Judo Mixed Team Results
Gold: France
Silver: Japan
Bronze: Brazil
2024 Olympic Judo Overall Medal Table
Japan: 3 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze
France: 2 Gold, 2 Silver, 6 Bronze
Azerbaijan: 2 Gold
Georgia: 1 Gold, 2 Silver
Brazil: 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze
Sport Judo’s Glaring Problems
While there were some exciting moments at this year’s Olympic Judo events, the sport’s glaring problems are still apparent. Specifically, there are three problems that are hurting the sport of Judo.
Constant Rule Changes
Reduction of Techniques
Controversies & Politics
Constant Rule Changes
Mamy Judokas believes that constant changes in the rules have made the sport more complex and less intuitive. Modifications often aimed at making the sport more spectator-friendly sometimes lead to confusion among both athletes and referees.
The heads of the Olympics and IJF keep messing with a good thing. Judo is a beautiful sport, and the constant rule changes water down the product and turn fans off.
Reduction of Techniques
Going along with the rule changes is the reduction of techniques. Every year, it seems the organizations keep restricting the permitted techniques in competition.
Everything from leg grabs to different grips have been banned from competition. The techniques in Judo are vast, but sport Judo keeps limiting what the athletes can do.
I know the organizers are trying to make the sport more safe and exciting, but it just sucks.
Controversies & Politics
Controversy and politics are always the biggest headlines in every Olympic Judo event. Not an event goes by where judges and referees make controversial decisions that affect the outcome of matches.
Matches should be decided by the athletes and not on the calls of the judges and refs.
Politics is also a huge problem that is hurting the sport. There seems to be a lot of favoritism for the most famous athletes who represent their home country.
For example, in the finals of the mixed team match between Japan and France. It’s supposed to be a “random draw” to see who will compete in the tiebreaker match.
Then, it just so happens that Teddy Riner’s division is randomly selected. The most unstoppable Judoka in the sport gets “randomly” picked to compete in a match that decides who wins the gold medal.
In life, there are coincidences, but getting that lucky just seems odd.
Can Judo Get Bigger?
Despite the problems that Judo fans constantly complain about, it was a great event this year. There were some beautiful techniques on display, and many athletes etched their names in the history books.
Bobby is martial artist for almost 20 years with a BJJ black belt under Professor Sergio Miranda. He is also a karate black and former combat sports athlete, who loves all things grappling.
