It is exciting to be here for the first competition of the 2019 IJF World Judo Tour and the first IJF event in Israel. We only had 88 days from the signing of the contract at the end of October to the start of the event! With everyone working together we were able to deliver a fantastic experience to everyone.
We are extremely grateful to IJA President Ponte, the Israeli Judo Association, the Israeli Ministry of Culture and Sport, in particular Minister Miri Regev and all of the local sponsors for their support in bringing this marquee event to Tel Aviv.
The fact that we have so many participants (373) from numerous countries (53) serves as a reminder to us all just how important this competition is for the athletes’ qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Following the IJF Referee and Coaching Seminar in Mittersill, in the draw the main points were emphasised, namely that the judogi must be worn properly with the belt knot tied tightly, there was clarification of “when it was ne-waza?” and “what is ni-shisei?”.
For 2019, we will focus on improving our services to our athletes and the warm up tatami must be kept tidy – NOTHING on the tatami except the competing athletes warming up. Coaches are responsible for their delegation and must educate their athletes. If a delegation does not follow the rules ALL coaches from that delegation will have their accreditation removed for that day.
Thanks to all the coaches for helping us with this and their flexibility and understanding that we are limited to the spaces in the venue and need to find different solutions in each sport hall.
Scotland's Dr. Lisa Allan, who is herself a dan grade judoka and a member of Edinburgh Judo Club, was the Judo Manager at the London 2012 Olympic Games.