Australia has competed in every Olympic judo competition since Tokyo 1964 and at these Games Ted Boronovskis won a bronze medal in the open category. Maria Pekli matched that achievement in the women's 59 kilogram category at Sydney 2000.
Australia appears to be on track to send five judoka to London with Daniel Kelly, husband of Maria Pekli, set to make his fourth consecutive Olympic Games appearance. Kelly saw his best performances in Athens and Sydney where he claimed 7th and 9th, and was unlucky to be defeated in the opening round in Beijing.
He will likely be joined by a host of Australia’s young judo stars including the 20th ranked U/90kg Mark Anthony, who joined Kelly in Beijing, and Olympic debutants Arnie Dickens, Carli Renzi and Ivo Dos Santos.
The group will be looking to add to the two bronze medals Australia’s judoka have won at Olympic level.
JUDO FORMAT
There are seven judo events for men and seven for women with each contest lasting five minutes (actual time), although the clock stops each time the referee interjects.
The objective is to defeat an opponent by scoring the most points with throws or holds. A bout can also conclude when a player executes an ‘Ippon’ by throwing the opponent onto his or her back with force, speed and control.
There is an elimination system of competition with double repechage. Contestants are divided into a draw of two tables and two finalists who compete for gold and silver.
All competitors defeated by the group winners and runners up, take part in the repechage of their respective pools to play off for bronze. The respective winners of those contests are placed third, the two losers are placed fifth. Boxing, taekwondo and judo are the only Olympic sports to award two bronze medals.
QUALIFICATION AND SELECTION
To be eligible for Olympic selection, an athlete must have participated in at least one World or Continental Senior Championships, or in two IJF Qualification events during the two year qualification period.
The qualification is allocated to the judoka and the IJF World Ranking List as of 1 May 2012 will be used to allocate the 352 places on offer. Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) may qualify a total of 14 athletes which is seven men (1 per event) and seven women (1 per event).
For each male category 22 athletes from the top of the World Ranking List will be directly qualified (22 x 7 = 154 places). For each female category 14 athletes from the top of the World Ranking List will be directly qualified (14 x 7 = 98 places). The competitors are identified by following the ranking position in each category from top to bottom until 22 different countries are found for men (respectively 14 for women). When a nation has one athlete ranked in this block, this athlete is directly qualified. When a nation has two or more athletes ranked in this block the nation will choose which one of these athletes will receive the quota place.
In addition to the direct qualified athletes the next best athletes will qualify on a continental quota based also on the World Ranking List. The allocation for Oceania (17 countries) is 10 athletes (7 men and 3 women). A continental ranking is created using the World Ranking List - sorted out by the highest points across all categories and gender and athletes are identified by until all places of the Union quota for men and women are allocated. A maximum of one athlete per NOC can qualify through the Union quota across all categories and gender. A maximum two athletes per category per Continental Union can qualify through the Union quota.
For all the Nomination and Selection documentation click here>>>
AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC HISTORY
Judo is the first Olympic sport to have originated in Asia and is now the most popular martial art in the world, with 13 million participants in 111 countries. Australia has secured two bronze medals in the sport.
To read more about Australia’s Olympic judo history, click here>>>