Jerusalem: The international Tel Aviv Grand Slam judo tournament started on Thursday, with 398 judokas from 52 countries and regions participating.
The competition, held at the Shlomo Group Arena in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv, is part of the International Judo Federation (IJF) World Tour and the second in the Grand Slam series in 2023 following the Paris tournament.
Among the competitors are reigning 63kg category Olympic champion Clarisse Agbegnenou of France and Cuba’s Idalys Ortiz, who won four consecutive Olympic medals in the +78kg category, including a gold medal at London 2012.
Also participating are Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medalists Vazha Margvelashvili of Georgia, Germany’s Eduard Trippel and Madeleine Malonga of France, and Rio 2016 gold medalists Fabio Basile of Italy and Brazil’s Rafaela Silva.
The Israeli team is the largest, with 41 judokas, while Brazil and Germany have 22 judokas each.
