A huge cry of freedom, a deafening cry to exorcise the present. Austria and Germany have said enough; enough of sadness and desolation. The day before the International Judo Federation announced the return of the World Judo Tour, the two countries celebrated the resurgence of our sport with a training camp and a friendly tournament, a team match, a fully-fledged ippon against the coronavirus.
Austria team, courtesy from "Judo Austria/Schoen"

Sabrina Filzmoser tells us the story. The Austrian was there and participated, even getting injured. These are her words.

“All went well here, Austria’s training camp together with Germany has been an awesome opportunity for everybody to get back to a somewhat ‘normal’ rhythm, with testing, following prepared protocols and rules.

We feel really lucky and privileged to get such an opportunity, while others around the world are struggling to even get back on to the tatami.

The friendly competition between Austria and Germany has been well organised and Austrian TV ensured it was a high quality project.

Germany team, courtesy from "Judo Austria/Schoen"

While there had been many injuries just before, also many of us had not had the best possibilities to get into a high level competition mode, as we would have wished to, because we‘ve had three positive Covid cases just one week before, followed by a strict quarantine. There was a huge chance of cancellation, but our federation and the new president, Martin Poiger, gave all of their possible effort and energy!

Austria-Germany friendly tournament, courtesy from "Judo Austria/Schoen"

Somehow everything went well and we managed to make the competition happen. Massive thanks to our German neighbors for coming over during this challenging time. They were awesome and also really eager to fight the first match and to train with a foreign country, after 6 months in off-mode.

The young guns gave everything in this competition, so there were a lot of nice surprises. We lost 5:7, but the result didn’t show how happy everybody felt to be able to fight for real.

JUDO IS BACK! That’s what really counts. Friendship is more than a thousand words can tell you, in this case!”

Photos: Austrian Judo Federation

See also
2024 Continental Championships
The 2024 Asian Championships

25. Apr. 2024 / Each of the continental unions has spent recent weeks ...

Judo for Peace
For a Child's Smile

24. Apr. 2024 / The Judo for Peace Southern Africa mission is coming ...

Athlete Stories
Kim Polling: A life That Feels Unified

23. Apr. 2024 / When high profile judoka change nationality there is ...

Judo for Peace
When Judo For Peace Becomes Poetry

23. Apr. 2024 / Judo is an art; it can be martial, but it can also ...

News
One Big Step Closer to the Games

23. Apr. 2024 / The Olympic Ranking List for judoka is competitive, ...

Judo for Peace
A New Chapter Opens in Dzaleka

21. Apr. 2024 / After five days in Zambia, the second leg of the IJF ...

100 Days to Go
Olympic Ranking List Heroes - Women

18. Apr. 2024 / How long does it take to build a respectable Olympic ...

Judo for Peace
You Must Have Seen It

18. Apr. 2024 / To get to the Mayukwayukwa Refugee Settlement takes ...

100 Days To Go
Olympic Ranking List Heroes - Men

18. Apr. 2024 / How long does it take to build a respectable Olympic ...

Judo for Peace
Mayukwayukwa Demonstrates that Everything is Possible

17. Apr. 2024 / Imagine, you woke up at 2:30 a.m.

Heroes on the Move
Safarov and Orujov Travel to Both Teach and Learn

17. Apr. 2024 / For the last week Rustam Orujov and Orkhan Safarov ...

The Olympic Champion Series
The Olympic Champions (33): Ole Bischof (GER)

01. Apr. 2024 / Interviewing an Olympic champion is something special ...

Anti-Doping
Join the #OnePlayTrueTeam

16. Apr. 2024 / On 19th April join the global anti-doping community ...

INTERVIEW EXPRESS
Shishime Ai (JPN)

08. Jun. 2018 / The next reigning world champion to be invited to answer ...

News
5 Key Takeaways from judo’s first Tokyo 2020 qualifier

06. Jun. 2018 / Highlights from Hohhot Grand Prix 2018

VIDEO
Judo for the World in Iran

07. Jun. 2018 / In April 2018, the International Judo Federation and ...

Meeting
JUDO: A Beneficial Cause

07. Jun. 2018 / 'Society should believe in sport as a beneficial cause ...