It’s been quite a while: For a total of 27 years (1980 – 2006) Linz-Leonding used to be a hotspot in the Judo World Cup. Next year the IJF World Tour is eventually coming back to Linz. The first Upper Austrian Grand Prix will be held from 25 to 27 May 2023, just two-weeks-time after the World Championships in Doha (QAT). Linz has established oneself as the Austrian capital of Judo about three years ago, when Headcoach Yvonne Bönisch, a 2004 Olympic champion, started to work for Judo Austria. Austrian top-athletes such as Olympic and World Championships medal winners Michaela Polleres (-70) and Shamil Borchashvili (-81) are based in the Olympic High Performance Training Centre in Linz up to three days per week. The TipsArena, venue of the Upper Austrian Judo Grand Prix, is located only 300 hundred metres away from their training ground.
"We are trying to secure as many top sports events in Upper Austria as possible. The Upper Austrian Judo Grand Prix is a perfect fit for us“, emphasizes Sports Councellor Markus Achleitner. „We have been dreaming about an IJF World Tour event for many years, it’s good to back on the international Judo calendar after such a long time. Linz is the perfect place to host the event. We are expecting about 350 to 400 judoka from 50 countries and a total of 2.000 booked nights“, explains Martin Poiger, President of Judo Austria. „It’s a great opportunity for our top athletes as well as our Under-23 and Junior athletes to eventually have a World Tour event at home again. We are really looking forward to host the international Judo family“, comments Yvonne Bönisch. „And of course we will try to collect as many world ranking and Olympic qualification points as possible.“