Remember this number: 122! / IJF.org

Remember this number: 122! Each edition of the Olympic Games is highly anticipated as the event looms on the horizon and this edition will begin in exactly one week, but what does this number represent? It is the number of delegations that will participate in the Olympic judo tournament that will begin on 27th July and will continue until 3rd August in the French capital, at the Arena Champ de Mars.

While the International Olympic Committee has 206 National Olympic Committees spread across five continents, these 122 delegations correspond to nearly 60% of all NOCs, demonstrating once again that judo is a sport beautifully distributed across the planet.

In a few days, we will discover the complete list of flag bearers for the opening ceremony. With such a representation of NOCs, we can expect several judoka to appear at the head of their delegations. This is the case for Michaela Polleres (AUT), Barbara Matić (CRO), Idalys Ortíz (CUB), Krisztián Tóth (HUN), Peter Paltchik (ISR), Erlan Sherov (KGZ), Izayana Marenco (NCA) and Juan Postigos (PER), who have already been announced.

There are still a few days to feed on statistics before we can focus on the results of this 15th appearance of judo on the Olympic programme, after the Olympic debut of our sport in 1964 in Tokyo. In 2021, 26 countries reached the podium. What will happen in 2024? Wait and see...