14 new Olympic champions were crowned and in all, 56 medals were hung around the necks of as many judoka in the 14 weight categories (7 for men - 7 for women).
These are the normal statistics. Looking a little closer, we see that Japan came out on top of the nations’ ranking with three gold medals, ahead of Azerbaijan with 2 gold medals, while the host country, France, finished in third place with one gold medal but 9 medals in all, including the title of King Riner to conclude a crazy week.
An even more in-depth analysis shows us that 122 countries participated in the Paris 2024 Olympic tournament while the 14 Olympic titles were divided between 11 nations: Japan, Azerbaijan, France, Georgia, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Italy, Croatia, Canada and Slovenia. 26 countries won medals and 37 reached the final block.
Judo is a universal sport, practised all over the world, on five continents. Millions of practitioners around the world devote themselves to this sport that carries values and a philosophy going beyond the sporting framework.
Once again, the Paris 2024 edition shows to what extent, thanks to judo, it is possible to transcend barriers. There are no small countries, everyone has a chance, without discrimination. In judo, we only have nations that can express themselves and give a chance to real hopes who can dream of appearing in the pantheon of international sport. It is also not only hope, they can achieve it as well.