-78 kg: Returning contenders or a fresh face?
Two of the four medallists from the 2024 World Championships Juniors will return to Peru with hopes of improving on the results of their previous campaign. Reigning medallists, Sophie Mathilda Niemeyer of Germany and Brazil’s Dandara Camillo, will be difficult to beat and will be closely followed by current junior European champion Lila Mazzarino (FRA) and Maria Hanstede (NED).
Tania Murillo (COL), Lydia Kechout (ALG) and Alannah Joyce (AUS) bring diversity to the seedings from each continental union and will hope to translate that into podium success.
+78 kg: French Women Look to Continue Heavyweight Supremacy
The French duo Celia Cancan and Leonie Minkada-Caquineau will be determined to replicate their showdown in the final of the 2025 Junior European Championships in Lima. A silver medallist from 2024 and 2025 Upper Austria Grand Prix winner, Cancan is poised as the clear category favourite. The current junior African champion and last year’s junior world medallist Safa Soliman of Egypt will look to create more history for her nation and improve on her podium position.
A name to watch very closely is Umida Nigmatova of Uzbekistan. As the current cadet world champion, Nigmatova followed up by becoming junior Asian champion just recently. Can she go back-to-back at the higher age category in Lima?
-90 kg: Can Javakhishvili Add to the Georgian Legacy?
Luka Javakhishvili of Georgia will arrive in Lima as the current junior world champion at -81 kg, hopeful of following in the footsteps of his predecessors Lasha Bekauri and Beka Gviniashvili, both double junior world champions in their own right. Can Javakhishvili add to that legacy?
Hunting him down will be Italy’s junior European champion Cristiano Mincinesi and finalist Derek Marczak of Poland. Desperate to improve on their junior world bronze medals in 2024 are Alisher Samanov (UZB) and Vadim Ghimbovschi (MDA), in what promises to be an extremely competitive category.
-100 kg: A Wide Open Field
With none of the 2024 world medallists arriving in Peru, the podium will be filled with first-time medallists at junior level. On paper, Europe presents multiple threats to the podium, including junior European champion Milan Bulaja of Serbia, finalist Jakob Vares from Estonia, and 2023 cadet world bronze medallist Giorgi Bendeliani (GEO).
Pan-America also nominates several contenders for the podium including Gustavo Milano (BRA), Zail Ramirez (CUB) and Daniel Liubimovski (USA). Junior African champion Othmane Arbaoui (ALG) and junior Asian champion Mukhammadali Zoirov (UZB) round out this well-balanced field.
+100 kg: Clash of the Heavyweight Titans
The crowd will be hopeful of a rematch in the final, between junior European champion Bislan Katamardov (IJF) and Paris 2024 Olympian and World Judo Tour medallist Ibrahim Tataroglu (TUR). On paper, they are the men to beat. Number 1 seed and junior Asian champion Fazliddin Rafikov of Uzbekistan will be hopeful of putting last year’s disappointment behind him, as he chases down the European favourites.
Also featuring amongst the contenders are the trio from Pan-America: junior Pan-American Games champion Andrey Coelho of Brazil, number 2 seed Jose Miguel Brache Jarquin (DOM) and 2022 cadet world champion John Messe A Bessong (CAN).
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