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
-63 kg: Haruka Kaju Claims Japan's Fifth Gold Medal

20. Jun. 2026 / One of Mongolia’s greatest hopes for a medal rested ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
The Art of a Long Journey

20. Jun. 2026 / Every athlete present in Ulaanbaatar for the grand ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
Uta Abe: Greatness Built Through Challenge

20. Jun. 2026 / She was undoubtedly one of the defining figures of ...

Judo for Children
Mongolia’s Judo Legacy Starts with Its Children

20. Jun. 2026 / President Battulga Khaltmaa is a happy and proud leader. ...

World Refugee Day
Beyond Refuge: How Judo Gives Hope, Education and a Future

20. Jun. 2026 / Every year, World Refugee Day reminds the international ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
Ulaanbaatar Opens the Olympic Race

19. Jun. 2026 / The wait is over! After months of preparation and a ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
-57 kg: Omori Strikes Back to Take the Gold

19. Jun. 2026 / Fresh from winning her recent European medal, Timna ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
-66 kg: Takeoka’s Precision and Abdulaev’s Ne-waza Mastery Define the Day

19. Jun. 2026 / The -66 kg category delivered its share of explosive ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
-52 kg: Uta Abe, Only Uta Abe

19. Jun. 2026 / There were seeds everywhere in the -52 kg category, ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
-60 kg: Aghayev’s Tactical Mastery Stops Nagayama’s Charge

19. Jun. 2026 / There was tremendous depth in the -60 kg category, ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
-48 kg: Koga’s Control Brings Gold After a Day of Upsets

19. Jun. 2026 / Shirine Boukli (FRA) arrived in Mongolia full of confidence ...

JudoPod
The Dual Persona of a Champion

19. Jun. 2026 / To her social media followers, Shirine Boukli is energetic, ...

Ulaanbaatar GS 2026
The Art of Qualification: Two Years to Reach the Olympic Games

19. Jun. 2026 / For several weeks now, the global judo community has ...

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 ...