At the end of the European Championships in Zagreb, the Executive Committee of the EUROPEAN JUDO UNION (EJU) met for a coordination meeting. “We have done a lot of things right in the last two years since our first meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej PLENKOVIC. The European Championship 2024 in Zagreb was a success on all fronts,” emphasised President László TOTH. “I can’t remember any other European Championships Seniors in an Olympic year with a similarly strong line-up. The atmosphere in the hall was great thanks to the Kids Camp participants. The performance of our Olympic and Paralympic referees at the European Championships was impressive. The majority of the fights were absolutely top class. I think I can already say that we in Europe can look forward to a successful World Championships in Abu Dhabi and a successful Olympic (home) Games in Paris. I would rule out a Japanese demonstration of power like in Tokyo, with nine (out of a total of 15) gold medals for the hosts. The fact that we had nine nations winning – at least one – title in Zagreb and 20 countries finishing in the medal ranks is definitely a good sign. It shows the balance of our top judoka.”
The media values are also first-class: 600 stories and posts (in five days) generated more than 10 million social media impressions and JudoTV.com recorded 2.4 million views. Average time spent by users: 27 minutes (!).
Other topics that were discussed at the Executive Committee meeting:
- The launch of the newly created European Judo Hopes Cup (sub-15) in Sarajevo (BIH) in mid-April can be chalked up as a complete success (234 participants). The next stops: Bielsko-Biala (POL, 25/26 May), Györ (HUN, 01/02 June).
- The European Veterans Championships in Sarajevo (BIH, 06 – 09 June) will also feature a Ne-waza competition for the first time.
- No fewer than 16 of the 28 top referees for the Olympic Games (26 July – 11 August) and the Paralympics in Paris (28 June – 8 September) come from Europe: Olympics: Ioana Babiuc/ROU, Roberta Chyurlia/ITA, Matthieu Bataille/FRA, Ofer Ben Zvi/ISR, Raul Camacho/ESP, Balasz Gosztonyi/HUN, Velimatti Karinkanta/FIN, Vladimer Nutsubidze/GEO; Paralympics: Heather Loontjens/BEL, Katharina Marzok/GER, Hana Safarikova/CZE, Olivier Desroses/FRAU, Katalin Fridrich/HUN, Roland Poiger/AUT, Jhon Ramaekers/NED, Nazim Umbayev/AZE.
Author: EJU Media