In attendance for the IJF were Mr Armen Bagdasarov, IJF Head Referee Director, Mr Vlad Marinescu, IJF Director General and Mr Michael Tamura, IJF Sport Director.
For Tajikistan the esteemed guests were Mr Ergash Makhmadbekov, Vice President of Tajikistan’s Judo Federation, Mr Erkin Latipov, General Secretary of the TJF and Mr Dilshod Nazarov, Vice President of the Tajikistan Olympic Committee and Tajikistan’s first ever Olympic champion. He won gold in the hammer throw event in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and became a national hero. The IJF is very proud to have Mr Nazarov present for this pivotal grand slam.
Mr Vlad Marinescu offered the first welcome speech, “Dear Mr Makhmadbekov, Mr Latipov and Mr Nazarov, and to all who are watching online, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners and sponsors for their support on this wonderful occasion of the first Dushanbe Grand Slam. The consistency hard work done by Mr TJF President Ismail Mahmadzoir is having a clear impact and is appreciated by all the judo family."
"With almost 400 athletes and 65 countries and with many high ranking athletes across all categories and with only 3 qualification events left on the World Judo Tour, it is exciting to be here. On behalf of IJF President Mr Marius Vizer, I thank the city and the local organisers and we look forward to presenting the perfect environment for the most amazing judo.”
Mr Ergash Makhmadbekov then addressed the judo family, “Dear honoured guests and spectators. I am very pleased to welcome you all to the beautiful city of Dushanbe in the country of Tajikistan on behalf of the TJK President Mr Izmoil Mahmadzoir. Before anything else, I express my gratitude to the IJF, all staff and particularly Mr Viver for the support we have received while organising this prestigious competition. We are proud to host the best athletes of the world in sunny Dushanbe. To all athletes we wish success to officials productive work and to all guests a comfortable stay.”
Following the welcomes, there was a reminder to all federations and athletes to join the IJF Clean Judo Telegram channel, created as a dedicated information stream to help everyone stay up to date with their anti-doping education.
Then Mr Armen Bagdasarov acknowledged the work of the referees, “Dear judo family, we will start here in Dushanbe with 15 of the best referees in all the world. The Head Referee Directors and Supervisors are here to work with the referees as part of our dedication to fairness and transparency. We wish all participants good luck.”
Mr Mike Tamura then ran the draw itself, following which the daily start times were listed. Day 1 begins at 10 a.m. Day 2 begins at 10:30 a.m. Day 3 begins at 11 a.m. The final block is at 5 p.m. each day.
