On the second day of the Mittersill OTC 2025, the President of the Austrian Judo Federation, and General Secretary of the European Judo Union, Dr Martin POIGER officially opened the camp and addressed athletes and coaches,
It is a great pleasure to welcome you all here to Austria for the 31st edition of the Mittersill OTC, we are grateful that so many athletes, coaches and nations have travelled to use this opportunity. We have done our best to prepare the dojo for you, and so on behalf of the EJU and Judo Austria, good luck and from our side, all the best.
Poiger then introduced the Deputy Major of Mittersill, Michael SINNHUBER,
We are happy to have you all in Mittersill and in the name of the town, we send you a warm welcome. I wish you a happy new year and a great season ahead, stay strong and healthy for 2025. Thank you for being here.
Over the course of the camp, 848 athletes from 44 nations will be in attendance, as well as the coaches and physios. With these numbers, the impact on local tourism is great and also backs up the notoriety of judo in Austria. In the Paris Olympic Games, Michaela POLLERES was one of only five medals won, highlighting the sport, alongside Lubjana PIOVESANA who took a fifth place the day before.
Head Coach Yvonne SNIR-BÖNISCH explains why the camp is so popular,
Nowhere else will you meet so many top stars in one place. The atmosphere is unrivalled, not only because of the mountains, but also because the nervousness before the start of the season is currently still limited. Everyone has had a longer break from competition and is looking forward to the upcoming tasks. This mood is infectious… in the most positive sense of the word!
This is of course the case for most judoka, especially those on the IJF World Judo Tour who may have last competed in the Tokyo Grand Slam and look forward to Paris in February, a new year and as we all know, new rules lie ahead.
Author: Thea Cowen