1. Tara Babulfath - Sweden (-48 kg)
When previewing the 2025 World Junior Championships, it is impossible to look past Sweden’s Tara Babulfath. After collecting Sweden’s first ever Olympic judo medal in Paris last year, Tara has won medals at the Paris, Baku and Tbilisi grand slams in 2025. As a cadet she was already a senior world medallist, but in Lima Tara will be looking to become junior world champion for the first time. Even more extraordinary is the fact that at just 19 years of age, Babulfath will still be a junior athlete in 2026.
2. Clarice Ribeiro - Brazil (-48 kg)
While Babulfath will be the unquestionable favourite at -48 kg, Brazil’s Clarice Ribeiro will arrive in Lima full of confidence having captured her third consecutive cadet world title in Sofia this year. After winning a bronze medal at the 2024 World Junior Championships in Dushanbe, Ribeiro has added senior experience on the IJF World Tour and will believe strongly that she can stand atop the podium in Lima.
3. Savita Russo - Italy (-63 kg)
Another athlete who has already broken through well at senior level is Italy’s Savita Russo. Having competed at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at, Russo returned to the junior level and claimed a silver medal at the 2024 World Junior Championships in Dushanbe. While having mixed success on the World Judo Tour in 2025, Russo stormed past her competitors to claim the 2025 Junior Europeans Championship title in Slovakia just a few weeks ago. She will be the one to beat in this category.
4. Rin Maeda - Japan (- 70 kg)
After finishing 5th at the 2024 World Junior Championships in Dushanbe, Maeda may appear from the outset to be a surprising name among this list. However, after missing a medal in Dushanbe, Maeda claimed a bronze medal at the 2024 Tokyo Grand Slam and has gone undefeated in 2025. Winning gold medals at the Tashkent Grand Slam and the World University Games, Maeda will be confident that her senior success over the previous 12 months will provide the platform for her to succeed in Lima.
5. Kerem Primo - Israel (-63 kg)
The Primo family understands what it takes to stand on the podium at a world junior championships, with older sister Gefen taking a silver medal in 2019. Kerem will be looking to follow in her sister’s footsteps after returning to competition from injury in 2025, winning gold medals in the Paks and Kaunas junior European cups before taking home a bronze medal at the 2025 Junior European Championships. A silver medallist at the World Junior Championships in 2021 at just 16 years of age, Primo will believe that she can go one better in Lima.
6. Talgat Orynbassar - Kazakhstan (-60 kg)
In a crowded field of talent in the men’s -60 kg category, Kazakhstan’s Talgat Orynbassar will be very tough to beat. Already a two-time junior world medallist, Orynbassar has found success in the senior ranks in 2025 with a silver medal at the Qazaqstan Barysy Grand Slam earlier this year. Holding bronze medals from cadet and junior world championships already, he will be determined to hear his national anthem this time in Peru.
7. Jhonathan Benavides - Ecuador (- 60 kg)
Perhaps a less familiar name to some, Ecuador’s Jhonathan Benavides has gone from strength to strength in 2025. Yet to compete at a junior world championships, Benavides was a gold medallist at the 2025 Junior Pan-America and Oceania Championships, Junior Pan-American Games, as well as finding success at senior level with a bronze medal at the senior Pan-America and Oceania Championships. He enjoyed at in the 2025 Guayaquil Pan-American Open too. However, it was his victory over world and Olympic medallist Wei Yung Yang at the 2025 OTP Bank World Senior Championships in Hungary that put Benavides on the map and he will be looking to replicate that success in next week.
8. Dilshodbek Hamroyev - Uzbekistan (- 66 kg)
Rival nations will be watching the Uzbekistan team closely to see if they can replicate the success of their cadet team from the World Cadet Championships last month in Sofia. Spearheading the Uzbek team is 2025 jjunior Asian champion Dilshodbek Hambroyev. In an always competitive -66 kg category, Hambroyev will arrive in Lima in stellar form, having taken gold medals at the Junior Asian Cup in Tashkent and Junior European Cups in Paks and Prague in 2025.
9. Irakli Goginashvili - Great Britain (-73 kg)
London born Goginashvili made history for Great Britain as he claimed their first male junior European title in 25 years. This result was hardly a surprise for Goginashvili who won gold medals at the Birmingham, Prague and Poznan junior European Cups this year. Having fallen short at the 2024 World Junior Championships, Goginashvili will be determined to follow in the footsteps of his fellow countrymen Neil Adams, Graeme Randall and Craig Fallon, who each became junior world champion before going on to senior success.
10. Ibrahim Tataroglu - Turkiye (+100 kg)
The final day of individual competition will showcase Türkiye's best chance of securing a gold medal in Lima. The youngest man to compete at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Tataroglu will be hoping his 2023 cadet world title and bronze medal from the 2024 World Junior Championships will set him up for success in Peru. Already the owner of 2 medals on the World Judo Tour, Tataroglu will be very tough to stop.
The Lima World Championships Juniors will begin on 5th October with almost 500 athletes registered from 68 countries. JudoTV will be the place to find all updates, live contests, predications and special features.