Judo

Judo

is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...

was first included in the Summer Olympic Games

Summer Olympic Games

The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...

at the 1964 Games

1964 Summer Olympics

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...

 in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. After not being included in 1968, judo has been an Olympic sport in each Olympiad since then. Only male judoka participated until the 1988 Summer Olympics

1988 Summer Olympics

The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...

, when women participated as a demonstration sport

Demonstration sport

A demonstration sport is a sport which is played to promote itself, most commonly during the Olympic Games, but also at other sporting events.Demonstration sports were officially introduced in 1912 Summer Olympics, when Sweden decided to include glima, traditional Icelandic wrestling, in the...

. Women judoka were first awarded medals at the 1992 Summer Olympics

1992 Summer Olympics

The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...

.

Competition format

Judoka compete in weight classes. Gold and silver medals are awarded based on a single elimination bracket. Two bronze medals are awarded in each weight class; two judoka from a repechage

Repechage

Repechage is a practice amongst ladder competitions that allows participants that failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round.- Types of repechage :...

for those who are eliminated by one of the eventual semifinalists face the two semifinal losers for the bronze medals.

Weight classes

There have been between 4 and 8 Olympic weight classes over the years (currently 7), and the definition of each class has changed several times, as shown in the following table.

Men

1964	1972-1976	1980-1984	1988-1992	1996-2008
Open category no weight limits
Heavyweight +80 kg	Heavyweight +93 kg	Heavyweight +95 kg		Heavyweight +100 kg
				Half Heavyweight 90-100 kg
		Half Heavyweight 86-95 kg
	Half Heavyweight 80-93 kg
				Middleweight 81-90 kg
		Middleweight 78-86 kg
				Half Middleweight 73-81 kg
Middleweight 68-80 kg	Middleweight 70-80 kg
		Half Middleweight 71-78 kg
				Lightweight 66-73 kg
		Lightweight 65-71 kg
	Half Middleweight 63-70 kg
Lightweight -68 kg
				Half Lightweight 60-66 kg
		Half Lightweight 60-65 kg
	Lightweight -63 kg
		Extra Lightweight -60 kg
4	6	8	7	7

Women

1992-1996	2000-2008
Heavyweight +72 kg	Heavyweight +78 kg
	Half Heavyweight 70-78 kg
Half Heavyweight 66-72 kg
	Middleweight 63-70 kg
Middleweight 61-66 kg
	Half Middleweight 57-63 kg
Half Middleweight 56-61 kg
	Lightweight 52-57 kg
Lightweight 52-56 kg
Half Lightweight 48-52 kg
Extra Lightweight -48 kg
7	7

Medal table

Judoka from 50 nations have won medals, representing all 6 continents.

1	Japan	35	15	15	65
2	France	10	8	19	37
3	South Korea	9	14	14	37
4	People's Republic of China	8	2	8	18
5	Cuba	5	11	16	32
6	Soviet Union	5	5	13	23
7	Netherlands	4	2	14	20
8	Poland	3	3	2	8
9	Italy	3	3	6	12
10	Spain	3	1	2	6
11	Germany	3	0	10	13
12	Brazil	2	3	10	15
13	Austria	2	2	1	5
14	Belgium	2	1	7	10
15	Georgia (country)	2	1	2	5
16	align="left"	|2	0	2	4
17	West Germany	1	4	3	8
18	German Democratic Republic	1	2	6	9
19	Hungary	1	2	4	7
20	North Korea	1	2	4	7
21	Mongolia	1	1	3	5
22	Switzerland	1	1	2	4
23	Romania	1	0	3	4
24	Azerbaijan	1	0	1	2
24	Belarus	1	0	1	2
24	Turkey	1	0	1	2
27	Greece	1	0	0	1
28	United Kingdom	0	7	9	16
29	United States	0	3	7	10
30	Russia	0	3	5	8
31	Canada	0	2	2	4
32	Uzbekistan	0	2	1	3
33	Bulgaria	0	1	2	3
33	Israel	0	1	2	3
33	Ukraine	0	1	2	3
36	Algeria	0	1	1	2
36	align="left"	|0	1	1	2
36	Egypt	0	1	1	2
39	Kazakhstan	0	1	0	1
39	Slovakia	0	1	0	1
41	Estonia	0	0	3	3
42	Australia	0	0	2	2
42	Slovenia	0	0	2	2
42	Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia	0	0	2	2
45	Argentina	0	0	1	1
45	Czechoslovakia	0	0	1	1
45	Iceland	0	0	1	1
45	Kyrgyzstan	0	0	1	1
45	Latvia	0	0	1	1
45	Portugal	0	0	1	1
45	Tajikistan	0	0	1	1
|align=left|Total	109	108	218	434

Number of judoka by nation

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