Israel hosts the Tel Aviv Grand Prix for the second consecutive year, as a springboard to officially launch the World Judo Tour and it does with promises that for now are just that, dreams.
We want to know if it will be a promised year, yielding a first Olympic gold medal for Daria Bilodid. We want to know if Abe Uta and Majlinda Kelmendi will face each other in the Olympic final, as many experts say.
We want to see if Clarisse Abegnenou will finally take the prize for her extraordinary effort.
We want to know if her teammates Gahié and Malonga will confirm the predictions for Olympic titles, accredited for their sensational performances at the world championships.
We want to know if young Sone takes over and if veteran Ortíz continues her immense collection of medals.
We want to know if Mollaei and Muki will star in the combat of the century, with permission from the Belgian, Casse.
We want to know if Ono is human!
We want to know if Spain will find glory at the hand of Sherazadshvili. We want to know if Liparteliani will climb up from being the eternal second and if someone is able to stop the legendary Riner.
We want to know if the Japanese army will confirm its potential or succumb to the pressure of competing in Tokyo, at home, in the home of judo.
We want to know that the refugee team is a serious and supportive bet and we want to know if someone is able to defeat Japan in the team tournament.
We want to know all that and especially we want to verify that judo has no limits.
All these promises begin here, in Tel Aviv, in the promised land, a land of judo.
