Today judo is one of the popular disciplines on betting sites. The fighters’ bouts look spectacular, and the results are often unpredictable. Vbet statistics confirms it.
History of appearance and first competitions
Judo owes its appearance to Jigoro Kano, or to be more precise, to street hooligans who gave no rest to the future fighter in his adolescence. To fend off the bullies, Jigoro began practicing the sport of jujutsu. This Japanese martial arts discipline was his starting point.
Kano changed a lot of teachers and masters and eventually opened his own school Kodokan after a few years. It was here that Jigoro, at the end of the 19th century, introduced the term judo, meaning his style of fighting. Incidentally, the name is taken from Buddhist philosophy and means “the road to humanity.”
As a sport judo emerged later. It happened in the early 1950s, when the European Association was officially established to regulate the rules of the bout. In 1951, the first championship was held. In Paris, the French proved to be the strongest, as they managed to defeat seven rival countries and take five gold trophies.
The most famous judokas in history
Vbet analysts are unanimous: the title of the most titled fighter does not belong to an Asian athlete. That’s Teddy Riner, a Frenchman with African roots. Riner’s career started in 2008 with a bronze medal in Beijing, 4 years later he took gold in the London Olympics. Teddy Riner holds 11 world titles, and all that the judoka achieved even before his 30th birthday.
There are other outstanding athletes in the history of judo:
- Reko Tani. The Japanese judoka won her first gold medal at the age of 18. This record has been held for more than 10 years.
- Tadahiro Nomura. To take one gold medal is already a sign of elite. The judoka Nomura did it three times. And the Japanese won first three times in a row from 1996 to 2004.
- David Douillet. Another representative of France started with bronze in Barcelona 1992. But already in 1996 the 125 kg weightlifter took gold in Atlanta. Repeating this result at the Olympics in Sydney four years later made Douillet a part of the world elite.
The official ranking on the VBet website is constantly being edited. The new surge of popularity to the sport gives birth to new names. The 2023 World Cup promises to give judo fans new faces and new records.
World Cup 2023: results and favorites
The 2023 championship was held in Doha, Qatar, from May 7 to 14. The tournament brought together a huge number of participants. More than 600 judokas representing 100 countries met on the tatami. In all 15 champion titles were up for grabs, as well as seven individual belts and a separate team title which was fought for on the last day of the competition.
Teddy Riner proved his superiority once again. The Frenchman overpowered his younger competitors and took the next championship. It is now almost impossible to oust the Frenchman from the first line in the world ranking.
Clarissa Agbenyenou was the best among the women. The member of the French team began her career on the world stage in 2016 at the Olympic Games in Rio, and in 2023 she added a new trophy to her achievements. Today Agbenyenou is, without a doubt, the strongest judoka.
Despite the success of the French athletes, this time the national team failed to become the best of the best. The French were beaten by the Japanese. At the end of the tournament representatives of the Land of the Rising Sun won 5 gold medals, 2 silver and 4 bronze. The French team won only two gold medals.
Interestingly, the last step of the podium was taken by Georgia. The representatives of this country managed to get 2 gold medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze. The Georgian judokas are gradually gaining weight and have every chance to rise to the top next year.