Opening the European Judo Tour in 2025 will be Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana. In a bid to enhance the profile of more nations in Europe, the European Judo Union has created a strategy that places limitations to hold numerous events, and so Slovenia has upgraded from a Senior Cup, to a European Open.
Speaking with the General Secretary of the Slovenia Judo Federation, Aljaz SEDEJ, we find out more about the upcoming event and why the applications should start rolling in!
We have a great collaboration with the Municipality of Ljubljana and they are offering big support for the European Open event which will be held in the Maks Pečar Sport Centre, marking a national hero, and following on, there will be a training camp.
The upgrade to a European Open is also aligning with changes within the National Olympic Committee, as for senior athletes in Slovenia, categorisation can only be reached by IJF ranking points, which can be achieved in the Continental Open level.
So what else is on the agenda during the event?
There will be a programme running with the competition called ‘I Feel Judo’, and will be a personal experience for a maximum of 10 people who can apply for a 30 minute session with a top judoka. Next up is ‘I Play Judo’, and this will be a playstation corner with judo games. We’re using this to promote judo in a different way to youths through Esport.
Whilst all of this is happening inside the venue, there will be engaging activities going on within the city centre to draw attention to the event. In the Ljubljana Square Garden, a ‘Challenge the Judoka’ area will be set up for people passing by, giving them the opportunity to challenge top judoka in balancing games as well as gripping.
It is certainly an exciting start to the calendar and will be an engaging event for judoka and spectators alike with the chance of interacting with top judoka. Slovenia continued in their Olympic success this year, with Andreja LESKI taking the gold medal in the -63kg category, impressively, the third in this category for Slovenia following Urska ZOLNIR JUGOVAR and Tina TRSTENJAK.
Author: Thea Cowen