As of 13th March, the judoka with the most Olympic ranking points overall, across all weight groups, is Christa Deguchi (CAN), current -57 kg world champion. She has maximum points from Baku 2024, Tokyo, Mongolia and the worlds from 2023 as well as the gold in Jerusalem at the 2022 Masters and when added to other results, her Olympic ranking points total 8400.
There are two -57 kg women in the top ten list, the other being Deguchi’s compatriot Jessica Klimkait, also a world champion, with maximum points from Abu Dhabi and the Masters in 2023, with a total of 6950 points, all results considered.
The Canadians are split on the overall list only by Belgium’s Matthias Casse, the world’s top ranking man but one of only two men in this top ten, winner in Tashkent and Paris already this year and also the Masters gold medallist from 2023. He has 7622 points, over 1500 points more than any other man on the list.
The top ten athletes’ list, from all weights, includes 2 judoka each from the -52, -57 and -78 kilo categories and so it could be argued that these are the most competitive weights on the World Judo Tour. With such density at the top, each of these categories revolves around a large number of athletes capable of winning gold on the WJT, Olympic and world medallists in vast numbers continuing to compete despite already being at the top of world judo for a great many years. For example, in the -57 kg group, just reading down the Olympic rankings for the single category, the top 3 plus numbers 8 and 15, have all been world and or Olympic champion. Additionally, Funakubo (5), Cysique (7), Gneto (14), Smythe-Davis (20) and Monteiro (23) each have Olympic and or world medals of various colours and all of these athletes are in direct qualification for the one category.
The -52 kg category is just as dense, numbers 9 and 10 on the overall ORL, plus the number 11, shows incredible strength in the group. Keldiyorova , Buchard and then Krasniqi just outside the top ten, take up 20% of the world’s best ten but an even higher percentage of the world’s top 11.
The statistical analyses and deductions that could be made are never ending and the interpretation, albeit somewhat subjective, all point to a world of judo that delivers incredible, spectacular events and similarly extraordinary sporting records. Judo athletes have to work unbelievably hard all year round to have a chance of making it to the top. The top ten of the overall Olympic Ranking List have undoubtedly reached an impressive level and all, with the exception of one of the Canadian -57’s, as only one from any nation in a weight category can be nominated for an Olympic place, will compete in Paris this summer. Each of the 9 athletes is capable of winning their respective category but with 2 present in each of 3 weight groups, it’s not possible for that to happen for all of them. This is where competition lives!
Keep watching through the coming 3 and half months, to the close of the list toward the end of June, the final event to be included in Olympic qualification being the Lima Continental Open. The list will change, seeding for the Games will change and ultimately all of that will change the future for all the athletes on the World Judo Tour.