The World Judo Championships are the highest level of international judo competition, next to the quadrennial judo events at the Summer Olympic Games. The world championships are held by the International Judo Federation annually, except the calendar years of the Summer Olympics. Qualified judoka compete in their respective categories as representatives of their home countries. Team fixtures have also been held since 1994. The men's championships first took place in 1956, though the format and periodicity of the competition have changed over time. The women’s championships first took place in 1980. The last edition of the World Judo Championships (2025) was held in Budapest, Hungary.
History
The first edition of the world championships took place in Tokyo, Japan in 1956. There were no weight classes at the time and Japanese judoka Shokichi Natsui became the first world champion in history, defeating fellow countryman Yoshihiko Yoshimatsu in the final. The second world championship was also held in Tokyo two years later, with the Japanese winning the top two spots in the competition for the second time. In 1961, the championship was held outside Japan for the first time, and Dutch judoka Anton Geesink defeated the prior world champion, Koji Sone, in Paris, France, to become the first non-Japanese world champion.
The 1965 World Judo Championships were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and weight classes were implemented for the first time with the addition of the −68 kg, −80 kg, and +80 kg categories. Judo had become an Olympic sport at the 1964 Summer Olympics held in Tokyo initially for men, and a permanent sport after a brief absence at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Despite this progressive enlargement, it took until 1980 for women to participate in the world championships. The first women's world championships were held in New York City in 1980, and were held in alternating years as the men's championships until the 1987 World Judo Championships in Essen, where the two competitions were merged into one world championship. The mixed championships have been held biannually since 1987. On the Commonwealth Games side, Judo was added to the Commonwealth Games programme, initially as an optional sport for the first three editions in 1990, 2002 and 2014 but it is now a core sport from 2022 onwards. The women’s judo was included at the 1992 Summer Olympics. In 2005, the world championships made its debut on the African continent in Cairo, Egypt. In the International Judo Federation meeting held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2007 (during the 2007 World Judo Championships), it was decided that France would host the world championships for the fifth time in 2011.
Weight classes There are currently 16 tournaments in the world championships, with 8 weight classes for each gender.
+Men 1956–1963 1965 1967–1975 1979–1997 1999–presentOpen category(no weight limits)Open category(no weight limits)Heavyweight+80 kgHeavyweight+93 kgHeavyweight+95 kgHeavyweight+100 kgHalf heavyweight-93 kgHalf heavyweight-95 kgHalf heavyweight-100 kgMiddleweight-80 kgMiddleweight-80 kgMiddleweight-86 kgMiddleweight-90 kgHalf middleweight-70 kgHalf middleweight-78 kgHalf middleweight-81 kgLightweight-68 kgLightweight-63 kgLightweight-71 kgLightweight-73 kgHalf lightweight-65 kgHalf lightweight-66 kgExtra lightweight-60 kg
+Women 1980–1997 1999–presentOpen category(no weight limits)Heavyweight+72 kgHeavyweight+78 kgHalf heavyweight-72 kgHalf heavyweight-78 kgMiddleweight-66 kgMiddleweight-70 kgHalf middleweight-61 kgHalf middleweight-63 kgLightweight-56 kgLightweight-57 kgHalf lightweight-52 kgExtra lightweight-48 kg
Competitions by year The world championships have been held on every continent except Antarctica.
Men's competitions NumberYearDatesCity and host countryVenue# Countries# Athletes 1 1956 3 May Tokyo, Japan Kuramae Kokugikan 21 31 2 1958 30 November Tokyo, Japan Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium 18 39 3 1961 2 December Paris, France Stade Pierre de Coubertin 25 57 4 1965 14–17 October Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Maracanãzinho 42 150 5 1967 9–11 August Salt Lake City, United States University of Utah 25 115 6 1969 23–25 October Mexico City, Mexico Palacio de los Deportes 39 187 7 1971 2–4 September Ludwigshafen, West Germany Friedrich-Ebert-Halle 52 310 8 1973 22–24 June Lausanne, Switzerland Palais de Beaulieu 50 288 9 1975 23–25 October Vienna, Austria Wiener Stadthalle 46 274 1977 19–24 September Barcelona, Spain Palau dels Esports Cancelled 10 1979 6–9 December Paris, France Stade Pierre de Coubertin 54 273 11 1981 3–6 September Maastricht, Netherlands Euro Hall 51 255 12 1983 13–16 October Moscow, Soviet Union Lenin Palace of Sports 44 226 13 1985 26–29 September Seoul, South Korea Jamsil Arena 39 189
Women's competitions NumberYearDatesCity and host countryVenue# Countries# Athletes 1 1980 29–30 November New York, United States Madison Square Garden 27 149 2 1982 4–5 December Paris, France Stade Pierre de Coubertin 35 174 3 1984 10–11 November Vienna, Austria Wiener Stadthalle 32 183 4 1986 24–26 October Maastricht, Netherlands Geusselt Sports Hall 35 162
Mixed competitions Number M/WYearDatesCity and host countryVenue# Countries# Athletes 14/5 1987 19–22 November Essen, West Germany Grugahalle 63 456 15/6 1989 10–15 October Belgrade, Yugoslavia Pionir Hall 63 355 16/7 1991 25–28 July Barcelona, Spain Palau Blaugrana 64 465 17/8 1993 30 September – 3 October Hamilton, Canada Copps Coliseum 79 508 18/9 1995 28 September – 1 October Chiba, Japan Makuhari Messe 100 627 19/10 1997 9–12 October Paris, France Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy 91 585 20/11 1999 7–10 October Birmingham, United Kingdom National Indoor Arena 91 619 21/12 2001 26–29 July Munich, Germany Olympiahalle 89 586 22/13 2003 11–14 September Osaka, Japan Osaka-jō Hall 100 631 23/14 2005 8–11 September Cairo, Egypt Cairo Stadium Indoor Halls Complex 93 579 24/15 2007 13–16 September Rio de Janeiro, Brazil HSBC Arena 139 743 25/16 2009 27–30 August Rotterdam, Netherlands Rotterdam Ahoy 97 538 26/17 2010 9–13 September Tokyo, Japan Yoyogi National Gymnasium 112 847 27/18 2011 23–28 August Paris, France Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy 131 864 28/19 2013 26 August – 1 September Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Maracanãzinho 123 673 29/20 2014 25–31 August Chelyabinsk, Russia Traktor Arena 110 637 30/21 2015 24–30 August Astana, Kazakhstan Alau Ice Palace 120 723 31/22 2017 28 August – 3 September Budapest, Hungary László Papp Budapest Sports Arena 126 728 32/23 2018 20–27 September Baku, Azerbaijan 124 755 33/24 2019 25 August – 1 September Tokyo, Japan Nippon Budokan 143 828 34/25 2021 6–13 June Budapest, Hungary László Papp Budapest Sports Arena 118 661 35/26 2022 6–13 October Tashkent, Uzbekistan Humo Ice Dome 82 571 36/27 2023 7–14 May Doha, Qatar Ali Bin Hamad al-Attiyah Arena 99 657 37/28 2024 19–24 May Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Mubadala Arena 107 658 38/29 2025 13–20 June Budapest, Hungary László Papp Budapest Sports Arena 93 556 39/30 2026 4–11 October Baku, Azerbaijan National Gymnastics Arena 40/31 2027 7–14 June Astana, Kazakhstan Barys Arena 41/32 2028 TBC Lausanne, Switzerland Vaudoise Aréna 42/33 2029 TBC Tbilisi, Georgia Olympic Palace
Openweight competitions NumberYearDatesCity and host countryVenue# Countries# Athletes 1 2008 20–21 December Levallois-Perret, France Marcel Cerdan Palace of Sports 18 51 — 2009 Cancelled 2 2011 29–30 October Tyumen, Russia Judo Centre 22 49 3 2017 11–12 November Marrakesh, Morocco Palais des Congrès 28 58
Medal tables Men's medal count – individual events (1956–2026) Rank Nation Gold Silver BronzeTotal 1 110 60 69 239 2 25 18 29 72 3 25 8 47 80 4 11 12 33 56 5 10 15 26 51 6 8 11 19 38 7 7 14 27 48 8 5 6 12 23 9 5 4 10 19 10 Brazil 4 8 16 28 11 4 6 18 28 12 4 2 14 20 13 3 6 9 18 14 3 4 13 20 15 3 3 14 20 16 3 3 12 18 17 3 3 5 11 18 3 2 1 6 19 3 0 5 8 20 International Judo Federation 3 0 2 5 21 2 6 4 12 22 2 5 11 18 23 2 3 7 12 24 2 1 2 5 – Individual Neutral Athletes 2 1 1 4 25 2 0 3 5 26 1 8 11 20 27 1 3 9 13 28 1 2 3 6 29 1 2 2 5 30 1 2 1 4 31 1 1 4 6 32 Russian Judo Federation 1 1 1 3 33 1 0 2 3 1 0 2 3 35 0 7 9 16 36 0 5 13 18 37 0 4 7 11 38 0 3 5 8 39 0 3 4 7 40 0 3 1 4 41 0 2 6 8 42 0 2 3 5 43 0 2 2 4 44 0 1 5 6 45 0 1 4 5 0 1 4 5 47 0 1 3 4 48 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 50 0 1 1 2 51 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 54 0 0 3 3 55 0 0 2 2 56 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1Total 263 261 524 1048
Women's medal count – individual events (1980–2026) Rank Nation Gold Silver BronzeTotal 1 63 52 56 171 2 35 21 58 114 3 20 13 14 47 4 16 16 29 61 5 13 15 20 48 6 8 11 37 56 7 8 9 9 26 8 8 6 13 27 9 7 1 20 28 10 Brazil 5 6 18 29 11 5 2 4 11 12 4 8 18 30 13 3 3 4 10 14 3 1 11 15 15 3 1 7 11 16 3 0 3 6 17 2 9 11 22 18 2 5 12 19 19 2 5 10 17 20 2 2 11 15 21 2 2 4 8 22 2 2 2 6 23 2 2 1 5 24 2 1 2 5 25 1 5 8 14 26 1 1 7 9 27 1 1 0 2 28 International Judo Federation 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 30 0 5 5 10 31 0 3 11 14 32 0 3 5 8 33 0 3 3 6 34 0 2 7 9 35 0 2 0 2 36 0 1 4 5 0 1 4 5 38 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 2 42 0 1 0 1 43 0 0 3 3 44 0 0 2 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 2 2 47 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 – Individual Neutral Athletes 0 0 1 1Total 225 225 450 900
Total medal count – individual events (1956–2026) Rank Nation Gold Silver BronzeTotal 1 173 112 125 410 2 60 39 87 186 3 32 9 67 108 4 20 13 17 50 5 19 22 38 79 6 16 22 56 94 7 16 19 33 68 8 11 16 26 53 9 11 13 33 57 10 9 17 20 46 11 Brazil 9 14 34 57 12 9 14 30 53 13 8 13 22 43 14 7 17 38 62 15 6 4 25 35 16 6 4 23 33 17 5 12 16 33 18 5 6 10 21 19 5 5 8 18 20 4 8 17 29 21 4 6 21 31 22 4 2 11 17 23 International Judo Federation 4 0 2 6 24 3 7 11 21 25 3 4 11 18 26 3 4 7 14 27 3 3 14 20 28 3 2 2 7 29 3 0 5 8 30 3 0 3 6 31 2 10 25 37 32 2 7 18 27 33 2 7 8 17 34 2 5 8 15 35 2 2 2 6 36 2 2 1 5 37 2 1 3 6 – Individual Neutral Athletes 2 1 2 5 38 1 6 8 15 39 1 2 4 7 40 1 2 3 6 41 1 1 7 9 42 Russian Judo Federation 1 1 1 3 43 1 0 4 5 44 1 0 2 3 45 1 0 0 1 46 0 4 9 13 0 4 9 13 48 0 3 3 6 49 0 3 1 4 50 0 2 7 9 51 0 2 3 5 0 2 3 5 53 0 2 2 4 54 0 1 5 6 55 0 1 4 5 56 0 1 3 4 0 1 3 4 58 0 1 2 3 59 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 2 63 0 1 0 1 64 0 0 2 2 65 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1Total 488 486 974 1948
World Team Judo Championships The first World Team Judo Championships was held in 1994 as separate event and only for men's national teams. The first World Team Judo Championships for women's national team was held as separate event in 1997. Since 1998, World Team Judo Championships for men's and women's national teams have been held at the same time and venue. It were held every four years until 2006 (although promotional team events were held during 2003 and 2005 World Judo Championships) and every year from 2007 to 2015 (except 2009). Since 2011 men's and women's team competitions became the part of World Judo Championships. Starting from 2017, it were merged into mixed team competition. Judokas who participates in the individual events at the World Championships often do not participate in the team competition.
Year Competitions Location Men Women Gold Silver Bronze Gold Silver Bronze 1994 M – Paris, France no women's competition 1997 – W Osaka, Japanno men's competition 1998 M W Minsk, Belarus 2002 M W Basel, Switzerland 2003 M W Osaka, Japan 2005 M W Cairo, Egypt 2006 M W Paris, France 2007 M W Beijing, China 2008 M W Tokyo, Japan 2010 M W Antalya, Turkey 2011 M W Paris, France 2012 M W Salvador, Brazil 2013 M W Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2014 M W Chelyabinsk, Russia 2015 M W Astana, Kazakhstan
World Team Judo Championships — Mixed team 2017 Budapest, Hungary 2018 Baku, Azerbaijan 2019 Tokyo, Japan 2021 Budapest, Hungary 2022 Tashkent, Uzbekistan 2023 Doha, Qatar 2024 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 2025 Budapest, Hungary
Medal tables The results of promotional team events which were held during 2003 and 2005 World Judo Championships are not included into overall statistics.
Men's medal count – team events (1994–2015)