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
Judo for Peace
Judo, Hope and Green Action at Dzaleka Refugee Camp

22. May. 2026 / On 16th May 2026, the atmosphere at Dzaleka Refugee ...

JudoPod
Niko Sherazadishvili: Strength, Balance and the Courage to Evolve

21. May. 2026 / The latest guest on JudoPod is double world champion ...

IJF Academy
Brazil Hosts IJF Academy Course for the Third Time

20. May. 2026 / The Brazilian Judo Confederation has hosted another ...

Judo for Peace
From Refugee to Rebuilder

19. May. 2026 / For years, Muna Dahouk was one of the faces of the ...

Green Dojo
More Than a Dojo: A Community for the Future

18. May. 2026 / In the southern part of Athens, within the Municipality ...

IBSA Astana 2026
Australia's Para Judo Team Looks to the Future

13. May. 2026 / The Australian team in Astana is small but their delegation ...

IBSA Astana 2026
Brazil Has the Most Golds But Everyone Wins!

13. May. 2026 / After a busy day in Kazakhstan’s capital, on day ...

Portrait
Every Time You Fall, Rise Again

13. May. 2026 / Before the medals, before the podia and international ...

IBSA Astana 2026
Day One Has Set a High Bar

12. May. 2026 / Seven categories searched for their champions on day ...

IBSA Astana 2026
The 2026 IBSA Grand Prix Astana is Declared Open

12. May. 2026 / On day one of the 2026 IBSA Judo Grand Prix Astana, ...

IBSA Astana 2026
Astana Continues to Provide the Right Environment for Elite Judo

12. May. 2026 / The Qazaqstan Barysy Grand Slam has not long come to ...

News
Arthur Margelidon (CAN) Retires

12. May. 2026 / In April 2026 three-time Olympian Arthur Margelidon ...

News
From Competition to Education: Kazakhstan Deepens Commitment to Judo

11. May. 2026 / Throughout the weekend, all eyes were on Kazakhstan ...

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 ...