The national anthem of Croatia and the IJF anthem introduced the ceremony ahead of a welcome from President of the Croatian Judo Federation, Dr Sanda Corak, ”Good afternoon dear judo friends, it is my honour and pleasure to extend to you all a warm welcome to Croatia, welcome to the Zagreb Grand Prix."
"The Olympic Games in Paris are approaching fast, so at the Croatian Judo Federation we are delighted to organise this event so that we can offer judo athletes another chance to win ranking points.
Through the organisation of this event we always want to contribute to the popularity of judo in the country, so this time we organised a lot of activities for young judoka. We invited many children to come and we organised a big kids camp for them with the support of Hedvig Karakas (HUN) and Majlinda Kelmendi (KOS) Many younger judoka are on their way here to take part."
"Organising a competition for more than 500 competitors is always a challenging task and also places the event among the most important ones in our country and so I would like to thank everyone for helping us with this, our team, the sponsors, our Ministry of Tourism and Sport, the COC, the City of Zagreb, and of course the IJF and Mr Vizer who always supports the activities of the Croatian federation.
I wish all national teams the best of luck on the tatami. Enjoy your stay in Zagreb.”
Dr Laszlo Toth, EJU President and Vice-President of the IJF, then took to the stage, “Dear federation President Sanda Corak, dear Envoy Tomislav Druzak, dear COC President, dear judoka, first I extend a warm welcome to all of you on behalf of Mr Marius Vizer. I give special thanks to the government of Croatia and the City of Zagreb for the support received to host this tournament. 800 judoka from all over Croatia form the best audience we could ask for and we hope this competition will be enjoyed by everybody. I wish you all a fair and high level competition.”
Envoy of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Mr Tomislav Družak led the opening, “Dear judoka, dear judo friends, distinguished Envoy of the Minister of Defence, Mr Jušić, Your Excellencies, ambassadors, distinguished Representative of the Mayor of the City of Zagreb, Mr Čolić, distinguished Vice-President of the International Judo Federation, Dr Toth, distinguished President of the Croatian Olympic Committee, Dr Mateša, distinguished President of the Croatian Paralympic Committee, Mr Kovačić, dear President of the Croatian Judo Federation, Dr Čorak, ladies and gentlemen, it is my particular honour and pleasure to greet you on behalf of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Mr Andrej Plenković. Indeed, it is a great pleasure to witness another major international judo competition being held in the Republic of Croatia, gathering top-level judoka together from all over the world.
The government of the Republic of Croatia continuously devotes its attention to the development of sport and all sports activities, as we are aware that sport is one of the generators of vigorous growth in society, contributing not only to the health of our citizens but also to the affirmation of professional and economic potential in our country and its competitiveness on an international scale. There is synergy between sport and the national economy, in particular with tourism, representing added value that is worth pointing out."
"Exactly this point is the vision formulated by the government of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković; how to affirm and emphasise our heritage in Croatia. Sport, as a healthy and competitive environment, can be a shining example of how to affirm positive values and how to strive towards better achievements while respecting others with whom we are competing and co-operating.
The importance of this competition is confirmed by respectable numbers: 530 competitors coming from 83 countries and from 5 continents.
To all judoka, I wish a lot of sports luck and let the best ones win! I declare the Zagreb Judo Grand Prix 2023 open!”
Following the speeches, a demonstration of inclusive judo took place, led by the incredible coaches of Judo Club for persons with disabilities Ishi and Judo Club Profectus. The children delighted the crowd with their fun but disciplined performance, showing that a love of sport, a love for judo, inclusive coaching and a lot of hard work are all it takes to make judo an activity for everyone.
With the welcome and the display complete, the final block of day two was under way and it did not disappoint. With a JudoTV premium subscription you can follow all the action, watch exclusive videos and enjoy uinlimited access to the JudoTV archive. Tune in to catch up with all the action in Zagreb, Croatia.