A total of 520 judoka from 88 nations have gathered in the Japan’s Capital to compete in the country’s flagship international event, looking to secure more vital ranking points in the race for qualification for the rapidly approaching Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Many of them don’t compete very often. The Bahamas, Benin, Cambodia, Fiji, Guam, Kenya, Lao, Malawi, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Samoa, Sri Lanka and Tanzania are among the countries with representatives competing in the Japanese capital. Some athletes need to ensure their eligibility to be nominated for the Olympic Games, some wish to fight in the home of judo and some wish to catch an infectious feeling for the movement, preparation and skill that will be on display over the two days of competition.

There are many olympic, world, continental champions and medalists among the participants. Of course, Japan is the country with the most representatives, and at -60kg, -100kg, -57kg, -70kg, -78kg and +78kg they will have 4 athletes registered in each category. Among them we can see Olympic champions Uta Abe (48 kg), Naohisa Takato (60 kg), Takanori Nagase (81 kg) and Aaron Wolf (100 kg), world champions Megumi Horikawa (63 kg) and Natsumi Tsunoda (48 kg). 

The tournament draw took place on Friday December 1. The draw was opened by Dr Lisa Allan, IJF Secretary General, “Returning to Japan, the origin of our sport, the top athletes compete over the next two days, continuing to chase qualification points for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games which begin in 238 days. Thank you to all the athletes, coaches and officials for your continued support of the World Judo Tour and we wish you all the best of luck.", Allan said. 

The President of the All Japan Judo Federation, Mr Shinichi Nakamura, then took the floor, "I am happy to welcome you all to the Tokyo Grand Slam. The world's top judoka are now united in Japan. With the Paris Olympic Games just around the corner, we can anticipate an exciting weekend of judo. I hope that all nations and judoka are able to display the results of their hard work and dedication.

I hope that your time in Japan builds long-standing friendships and leaves you with lasting memories. Thank you and good luck!"

The 2-day competition takes place in the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. On day 1 there will the -57 kg, -70 kg, +78 kg, -73 kg, -81 kg and -90 kg categories and on day 2 will be the -48 kg, -52 kg, -63 kg, -78 kg, -60 kg, -66 kg, -100 kg and +100 kg categories. Preliminary rounds will begin on both days at 09:00. The final block on two tatami (medal contests only) will be at 15:30 on day 1 and 17:00 on day 2.