The first answer is the simplest and perhaps the most important: they are here because they want to be. Every judoka in Sarajevo made a personal choice to enter these championships, to prepare for them and to accept the challenge. That choice alone deserves respect.
Some competitors, particularly in the younger veteran categories, have enjoyed long and successful international careers recently. On the opening day in Sarajevo, Mammadali Mehdiyev of Azerbaijan offered one of the strongest examples of this. At 33, competing in the M1age band, he claimed the world veteran title.
Mehdiyev was already a junior world bronze medallist in 2013. During his senior career, he collected twelve grand slam medals, including two gold medals, as well as nine grand prix medals, also including two titles. He competed at two Olympic Games. His return to the tatami therefore comes with the experience of an athlete who has known the highest level of the sport. For him, as for many former elite judoka, veteran competition offers the chance to give the best of oneself again, without the daily pressure that shapes an Olympic cycle or the relentless demands of a senior international career. The desire to compete remains. The pleasure of judo remains. In Sarajevo, Mehdiyev showed that those things can still lead to world gold.
Such profiles are not the majority, even though many of the judoka gathered in Bosnia and Herzegovina enjoyed a strong level in their respective countries. Competition is woven into the life of a judoka from an early age. With young children, the words activity or animation are often preferred to competition and rightly so. Yet judo remains a sport of opposition. There is no more honest way to understand what one has learned, mastered or still needs to improve than through randori or a contest.
This is why the world veteran championships have a genuine educational dimension. They are not simply about fighting. They are about learning again, evaluating oneself and discovering where progress is still possible. There is no age limit on that process.
For many participants, the key word is challenge. Life itself is a series of challenges. To take that spirit on to the tatami in Sarajevo or at any event for veterans, is entirely natural. The aim is not to overpower others but to measure where one stands. Before challenging an opponent, however, every judoka is first challenging himself or herself.
In that sense, age does not define the value of the experience. To enter a world championship is a way of feeling alive, active and fully involved in a community that has shaped so many lives. For some, though, the goal is numerical. Alexsi Davitashvili of Georgia is in Sarajevo seeking a tenth world veteran title. For others, the achievement is simply to say, “I was there. I did it. I gave my best.”
There is, of course, an inherent risk in all sporting practice. Yet every competitor knows why he or she is there. No m-one is compelled to enter. These judoka have trained for the occasion, made their own decision and arrived ready to take responsibility for it. The large number of entries is itself evidence of how meaningful that choice is. As at every major event, medical services and safety procedures are in place. More importantly, the veterans competing here are not choosing inactivity. They are choosing movement, preparation, discipline and the physical and mental benefits that come with remaining engaged in sport.
Finally, there are the values of judo. They are visible everywhere in Sarajevo. There is a desire to win, certainly, but never at any price. Beyond the medals, the most valuable reward is often the friendship renewed in the corridors, the warm exchanges between former opponents and the shared pride of belonging to the same worldwide family. This is no legend. It is a reality anyone can witness away from the tatami.
There is no age for enjoyment, for learning, for setting oneself a challenge or for living an extraordinary adventure. No-one has to take that step. But for those who one day feel the desire to experience or relive the magic of competition, the veteran community offers a simple invitation: challenge yourself!
