Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

was first included in the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

at the 1964 Games in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. After not being included in 1968, judo has been an

Olympic sport Olympic sports are contested in the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. The 2020 Summer Olympics included 33 sports; the 2022 Winter Olympics included seven sports. Each Olympic sport is represented by an international governing b ...

in each Olympiad since then. Only male

judoka is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...

participated until the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, when women participated as a

demonstration sport A demonstration sport, or exhibition sport, is a sport which is played to promote it, rather than as part of standard medal competition. This occurs commonly during the Olympic Games, but may also occur at other sporting events. Demonstration spor ...

. Women judoka were first awarded medals at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Summary

Note: Women's judo made its first appearance at the

1988 Olympic Games 1988 Olympics refers to both: *The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *The 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul ...

, as a

. Women's Judo became an official part of the Olympic games from the 1992 Barcelona games and has been an integral part of the games since.

Competition format

Judoka compete in weight classes. Each country may qualify a maximum of one athlete per weight class. Gold and silver medals are awarded based on a single elimination bracket. Two bronze medals are awarded in each weight class; quarter-finalists losers fight against each other in the same half of bracket. Losers finish in seventh place, winners advance to the bronze medal contest against losing semifinalist of the opposite half of the bracket. Winners of these contests receive bronze medal and losers finish in fifth place.

Weight classes

There have been between 4 and 8 Olympic

weight classes Weight classes are divisions of competition used to match competitors against others of their own size. Weight classes are used in a variety of sports, especially combat sports (such as boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts and wrestling). Altern ...

over the years (currently 7), and the definition of each class has changed several times, as shown in the following table.

Men

Women

Mixed Team Event

The mixed team event first made an appearance at the 2020 Olympic Games. The event includes teams of six athletes from different weight categories, including three men (-73 kg, -90 kg and +90 kg) and three women (-57 kg, -70 kg and +70 kg). Nation competes against nation, with rounds composed of six individual bouts. The winner of each bout will be awarded one point and the minimum score a team will need to progress to the next round will be 4:2.

Medal table

Judoka from 56 nations have won medals, representing all 5 continents. ''Updated until

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

Number of judoka by nation

References

{{International judo

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...