In Budapest, at the Papp Laszlo Arena, the draw was attended by IJF General Secretary Dr Lisa Allan, IJF Director General Mr Vlad Marinescu, IJF Head Referee Director Mr Florin Daniel Lascau and Head Sport Director Mr Vladimir Barta. Representing Hungary were EJU and Hungarian Judo Association President Dr Laszlo Toth, Hungarian Judo Association Vice President and Olympic champion Antal Kovacs and Hungarian National Coaches Miklos Ungvari and Akos Braun.
Vlad Marinescu opened the occasion, "Dear President Toth and Hungarian Judo Association colleagues, dear judo family, ladies and gentlemen, hello. It is a great pleasure to be here in the home of the International Judo Federation, in Budapest, Hungary, to have the Hungarian World Judo Masters 2023, with the best of the best judoka of the world. The top 36 of each category will participate to be crowned ‘world master’ and gain those important points on the road to the Paris Olympic Games.
On behalf of our President, Mr Marius Vizer, our executive board and of course the whole judo family, we want to extend our great appreciation and thanks to the country of Hungary for hosting us for this great event. As well as hosting some of the most memorable events of world judo, Hungary is a great country that demonstrates the values of judo and the values of sport, from the leadership of the country, the Sport Ministry, to the Olympic committee. Thank you to all of the people involved in supporting the event, from the parters, broadcast partners, sponsors, supporters of the judo family, all letting us have this fantastic event that is broadcast around the world."
"Judo is a sport of values, the values we are demonstrating and teaching and that will ignite the Papp László Arena, allowing the competition to take place at the highest level and for the best athletes to participate in front of a crowd who love judo. All will be not only learning the values of judo but enjoying the excellent show.
We invite all the judo family not present in Hungary this weekend to join our JudoTV.com channel to follow all the action.
We are of course wishing all the best to the athletes participating. May the best judo athletes be crowned judo masters here in Hungary. Thank you."
Dr László Toth, IJF Vice-President, EJU President and President of the Hungarian Judo Association followed by saying, "Dear Lisa, IJF General Secretary, dear Vlad, IJF Director General, dear head directors, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, dear colleagues, on behalf of the Hungarian Judo Association, it is a great honour for us to welcome the best judoka to the Masters 2023, in Budapest, Hungary.
After 2017 and 2021, two successful world championships, for our federation it is a great pleasure to once again organise a top event for the judo world. We are very proud that in this competition 14 Olympic champions and 36 world champions will participate."
"I am really happy. Together with my team, together with the IJF team, I am convinced that it will be an unforgettable competition for everybody and I hope that many judoka will collect points to participate in the Olympic Games in Paris. I wish good luck to all competitors.
I would like to give a special thank you to the International Judo Federation, which trusts us with organising this event and a special thank you as well to the Hungarian government, which supports our ideas. Thank you very much."
Dr Lisa Allan, IJF General Secretary then explained, "As part of the IJF's continuous dedication to clean sport and fair play, we invite all athletes, especially the IJF and nationally registered testing pool athletes and delegation members, to visit our ‘Play True, Clean Judo, Clean Sport’ booth at the Papp László Arena, on the athletes' tribune corridor. We also invite our online viewers to visit the athletes’ hub website of the International Testing Agency, the IJF's partner (https://ita.sport/athlete-hub/), delivering anti-doping services and various anti-doping information. We also challenge your anti-doping knowledge with the WADA Play True quiz, which is available in 49 languages."
Mr Vladimir Barta, with the support of the IJF IT team, then ran the draw itself, giving us the first taste of the coming days; who we can expect in the first rounds and who can make their way through to the podium.
Competition Information
Friday 4 August 2023:
9:00 - Preliminaries on three tatami
17:00 - Final Block
Saturday 5 August 2023:
10:00 - Preliminaries on three tatami
16:30 - Opening ceremony
17:00 - Final Block
Sunday 6 August 2023:
9:30 - Preliminaries on three tatami
17:00 - Final Block
The draw closed with some special photos, including 3 Olympic champions in attendance at the draw, Mr Shohei Ono, Mr Antal Kovacs and Mr Shinji Hosokawa.
