How did judo get to the Olympic Games?

On 22 August 1960 the International Olympic Committee met in Rome and voted to add judo to the Olympic Games. ¹ Kano had joined that committee more than 50 years before. ^2,66

Tokyo, 1964

Judo's first Olympic Games were in Tokyo in 1964, the city where Kano had started judo. ^1,2,64 Only men took part, in four groups: under 68 kg, under 80 kg, over 80 kg, and an open group for any weight. ^1,64 The open group was won by Anton Geesink from the Netherlands. ^1,64

Geesink had another idea, years later. In 1986 he proposed a blue judogi for top contests, so that one judoka wears white and the other wears blue. ¹ That is how IJF contests look today. ⁶⁰

Out, then back for good

Judo was left out of the 1968 Games in Mexico City. ³⁰ It came back in 1972 and has been there ever since. British Judo says Charles Palmer's campaigning helped. ^30,100

In 1972 Brian Jacks won a bronze medal for Britain. ³⁶ Neil Adams won silver medals in 1980 and 1984, and in 1981 he became Britain's first male world champion. ³⁶

Women and Paralympians

The first women's World Championships were held in New York in 1980. ^35,64 Women's judo was shown at the Seoul Games in 1988, and women first won Olympic medals in Barcelona in 1992. ^30,64 Kate Howey won bronze for Britain there, and silver in 2000. ³⁶

In 1988 men's judo joined the Paralympic Games, and women's events followed in 2004. ^1,32 Paralympic judo is for blind and partially sighted athletes, and the two judoka start already holding each other's jacket. ^32,70 For Britain, Chris Skelley won gold at the Tokyo Paralympics and bronze in Paris in 2024, where Dan Powell won silver. ^36,101

At London 2012, Gemma Gibbons won silver and Karina Bryant won bronze. ^12,36 The Tokyo Games, held in 2021, added a mixed team event, with three women and three men in each team. Chelsie Giles won bronze for Britain at those Games. ^12,30

Judo is also part of the Youth Olympic Games, since the very first one in 2010, and of the Commonwealth Games. ¹ Today Olympic judo has seven weight groups for women, seven for men, and the mixed team. ^30,60

Your club tonight

So when you step onto the mat, the people in this story come with you. You bow, which is called rei. ^60,81 You learn ukemi, how to fall safely, before you are ever thrown. ^1,81 You practise randori and kata, the two ways of learning that Kano met with his first teachers. ^1,2,5 And your belt comes from the Kyu and Dan grades Kano began, with colours that turned up at the Budokwai in London. ^1,17,21

Twelve mats in a temple, 12 members in London, and your club tonight are all part of one long story.