Judo returns for the 2024 Paris Games. Read on the learn about how athletes from the United States and all other countries will qualify to compete at the Olympics.
How many athletes will compete in judo at the 2024 Olympics?
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There are slated to be 372 athletes (186 men, 186 women) competing in judo at the Paris Games. Each country can qualify a maximum of one athlete per weight class. A country that successfully qualifies for every single weight class would be able to bring a full team of 14 judokas to Paris.
How long does the Olympic qualification period for judo last?
The Olympic qualification period started on June 24, 2022 and will conclude on June 23, 2024. Qualification will be based on the world ranking list that takes those two years' worth of results into account.
How do athletes qualify for judo at the 2024 Olympics?
For each weight class, the top-17 athletes on the world ranking list will qualify for the Paris Games. Countries can only qualify one athlete per weight class, so the top 17 is after any additional qualifiers from the same country are removed. If a country has more than one athlete in the top 17, it will be allowed to decide which one gets to compete at the Olympics; otherwise, athletes qualify for the Olympics directly by name.
Afterward, 100 additional quota places will be allocated based on a continental ranking list that includes all athletes, irrespective of gender and weight class, who did not qualify directly via the method above. Each continent has a certain number of quota places that can be awarded, and each country can qualify a maximum of just one athlete through this method.
Any country with enough athletes to fill the six weight classes used for the mixed team event will automatically qualify for that event. For countries that can only fill five of the six weight classes, there are five mixed team invites — one per continent — that can be used to help a country fill out its team. Athletes who receive a mixed team invite will be eligible to compete in both the individual and mixed team events.
Finally, there are 15 places available for universality invites. These are awarded to athletes who compete for countries with historically low Olympic delegations.
It's also worth noting that as the host nation, France is guaranteed one athlete in every weight class.