Elected seats on the IOC are among the most prestigious achievements of global sport, carrying a huge responsibility for the shaping for the world’s sport context and ethos. In Mumbai judo was in focus as Yael Arad, Israel’s first Olympic medallist and current Israeli NOC president, was elected.
Also elected, with close ties to the IJF judo family, was Dr Balázs Furjes, former State Secretary in Hungary responsible for the development of the city of Budapest. He has also had great success leading strategy for major international sport bids and was the chairman of the Budapest 2024 Olympic bid, appointed by the Hungarian Olympic Committee and the Municipality of Budapest.
Dr Balázs Furjes has a huge amount of experience and expertise and the judo community is proud to be working with him. Not letting a minute pass without contributing to the international context, Dr Balázs travelled to Abu Dhabi to meet with IJF President Mr Marius Vizer and also accepted the honour of presenting medals to the champions of day 1.
Congratulations to Yael Arad and Balázs Furjes. We are looking forward to all that comes next.