Thus, athletes aged 55 to 59 (M6), 60 to 64 (M7), 65 to 69 (M8) and over 70 (M9) took part in a day dedicated to performance and to mutual respect and friendship.
For categories M7, 8 and 9, shime-waza are not allowed and the competition time decreases. It is an undeniable fact, whatever the age of the competitors, the desire to win and reach the podium is in tact and the commitment is total, all in an atmosphere where respect for the rules, the referee and of course the opponent is central.
It is of course always spectacular to see how motivated all the athletes are without exception. Encouraged by their opponents, peers and family, they get on the tatami ready to give their all. Thus, during the day we could hear from the audience, "Come on, daddy," because as we pointed out, veteran competitions are often a family affair.
It is also always interesting to see some judoka who, having just fought, quickly change outfit and find themselves on the chair to coach their teammates, because this is the spirit of veterans, a spirit of mutual aid and mutual prosperity as imagined by the founder of judo, Jigoro Kano Shihan.
This is anything but anecdotal because as Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, said, the important thing is to participate by giving the best of oneself. Today athletes from Mongolia, Japan, Finland, USA, Kazakhstan, Austria, Brazil, Ukraine, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Serbia, Portugal, Germany and Moldova climbed onto the highest step of the podium. Absolutely all the judoka did gave everything to have no regrets. The judo family bows to them because they are role models for society.
At the end of the day, the IJF Veterans Commission celebrated those athletes who have won these championships at least ten times (Sandy North, USA - Hendrik Koppe, NED - Farhad Rajabli, AZE), demonstrating that judo can be practised at any age and that no matter what, the passion of those roles models has a true impact on society.
Veterans M6 -60 kg 1. Nyamdorj KHAYANKHYARVAA (MGL) 2. Baatarsuren GENDENDORJ (MGL) 3. Attila GONDOCS (HUN)
-66 kg 1. Kenichi AKIRA (JPN) 2. Axel METZDORF (GER) 3. Mykola DANKANYCH (UKR) 3. Herve DUMAS (FRA)
-73 kg 1. Pasi LAUREN (FIN) 2. Gigla ALIBEGASHVILI (GEO) 3. Lukas VESELY (CZE) 3. Lode LAATS (BEL)
-81 kg 1. Gyula KALMAN (USA) 2. Christophe LE GORBELEC (FRA) 3. Jefferson DELGADO (BRA) 3. Dariusz PAWLOWSKI (POL)
-90 kg 1. Kanat MAMBETOV (KAZ) 2. Olaf RODEWALD (GER) 3. David CHEVALIER (PYF) 3. Olivier BRY (CAN)
-100 kg 1. Iulian RUSU (AU) 2. Grzegorz KUPCZYNSKI (POL) 3. Vitaly ALILUEV (NZL) 3. Roman TANCA (ROU)
+100 kg 1. Timothy WILSON (USA) 2. Arthur ALKHASYAN (USA) 3. Fred ITIOSE (GBR) 3. Iulian TATAROIU (USA)
Veterans M7 -66 kg 1. Silvio UEHARA (BRA) 2. Stanislaw PAZGAN (POL) 3. Pascal FRANCE (FRA) 3. Andreas PAJER (GER)
-73 kg 1. Oleh POLUPAN (UKR) 2. Jean STEENACKERS (BEL) 3. Joao VELLOZA (BRA) 3. Harald FUNGK (GER)
-81 kg 1. Mauricio NEDER (BRA) 2. Gilbert PANTILLON (SUI) 3. Torben HERSBORG (DEN) 3. Paul CUMMINS (IRL)
-90 kg 1. Bostan JANBYRBAYEV (KAZ) 2. Acacio LORENCAO JR (BRA) 3. Ernst LEIDENFROST (AUT) 3. Oleksandr RANGAIEV (UKR)
-100 kg 1. Jesper GUNDLACH (DEN) 2. Berend Jan KROESEN (NED) 3. William PERRON (USA) 3. Jacek GEMZA (POL)
+100 kg 1. Hendrik KOPPE (NED) 2. Omar PARISI (ARG) 3. Karl FRANKOVITCH (USA)
Veterans M8 -60 kg 1. Brian HERSKOWITZ (USA) 2. Christian JEAN GILLES (FRA) 3. Constantin BRINZA (MDA) 3. Anthony OLIVERI (USA)
-66 kg 1. Douglas TONO (USA) 2. Juan Luis BLANCO RODRIGUEZ (ESP) 3. Alberto RENEDO (ARG) 3. Laurent SIKIRDJI (FRA)
-73kg 1. Mohamed HALABI (FRA) 2. Arling MACKEY (USA) 3. Gigla TSIPIANI (GEP) 3. Kevin HAMER (CAN)
-81 kg 1. Reinhold KURZ (AUT) 2. Marco ALENCAR (BRA) 3. Ricardo TUERO (USA) 3. Manfred ZOELLNER (GER)
-90 kg 1. Farhad RAJABLI (AZE) 2. Alain DAYEZ (FRA) 3. Wolfgang HINTERLEITNER (GER) 3. Braulio BARBOZA (BRA)
-100 kg 1. Luis TORRES COBAS (CUB) 2. Ronald ANGUS (CAN) 3. Dragan BOZOVIC (BIH)
+100 kg 1. Slavko STANISIC (SRB) 2. Mark MCCALLUM (GBR) 3. Didier ALLOT (FRA) 3. Dermot KILLEEN (IRL)
Veterans M9 -60 kg 1. Sandy NORTH (USA) 2. Hans NESSENSOHN (SUI) 3. Julio VICENTE RAMOS (ESP) 3. Noriaki BUNASAWA (USA)
-66 kg 1. Jose GOMES (POR) 2. Willy HUBER (GER) 3. Shinji NAGAHIRO (JPN) 3. Zandan LKHAGVATSEDENISH (MGL)
-73 kg 1. Hubert BOTTAZZI (FRA) 2. Gunars KIRSONS (LAT) 3. Wolfgang LOEFFLER (GER) 3. Gary BERLINER (USA)
-81 kg 1. Jos WENNEKERS (NED) 2. Habibullo MAJIDOV (TJK) 3. Rio ONOSHITA (JPN) 3. Benaouda BOUAMRA (FRA)
-90 kg 1. Theodor KEPPEL (GER) 2. Philippe DEVINEAU (FRA) 3. Bradley KARMANN (USA)
-100 kg 1. Mihail MALEAR (MDA) 2. Giuliano INVERNIZZI (ITA) 3. James DUGAL (USA)