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
Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
First Points, First Statements on the Road to Los Angeles

21. Jun. 2026 / The final day of the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam 2026 brought ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
+100 kg: Kim Overcomes the Giants to Claim His First Grand Slam Gold Medal

21. Jun. 2026 / The heavyweights always attract attention.

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
+78 kg: Arai Rises as Dicko Falls in a Day of Surprises

21. Jun. 2026 / She had not travelled to Mongolia to leave without ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
-100 kg: Pirelli Prevails in a Day Full of Surprises

21. Jun. 2026 / It was a difficult day for many of the favourites in ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
-78 kg: Experience, Surprises and Gold for Lytvynenko

21. Jun. 2026 / Few could have predicted the final that would unfold ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
-90 kg: Murao’s Masterclass Ends with a Ninth Grand Slam Gold Medal

21. Jun. 2026 / To say that Sanshiro Murao (JPN) was the favourite ...

Interview
Li Haiyang Chasing Olympic Dreams at Home

21. Jun. 2026 / For athlete Li Haiyang, competing on the international ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
The Vision Behind the Journey

21. Jun. 2026 / As the Head Sport Director of the International Judo ...

Judo for Children
Judo Global Association Inaugurates a new Judo School

21. Jun. 2026 / On 14th June, the Judo Global Association of São Tomé ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
Under the Eternal Blue Sky, Mongolia Celebrates Judo

20. Jun. 2026 / There are some places on the IJF World Judo Tour that ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
-81 kg: Joonhwan Lee Ends a Perfect Day with a Spectacular Gold

20. Jun. 2026 / At just 22 years of age, Timur Arbuzov (RUS) is already ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
-70 kg: Shiho Tanaka Confirms Her World Champion Status

20. Jun. 2026 / The -70 kg category was packed with quality, featuring ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
-73 kg: Ankhzaya Lavjargal Gives Mongolia a Golden Moment

20. Jun. 2026 / The category delivered exactly the kind of surprises ...

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 ...