Overview 

Veteran Josh Katz is back at the Olympic Games in Paris and will take to the floor in the men’s individual -60kg event. Now coached by his brother and fellow Rio Olympian Nathan Katz, Josh secured his ticket for Paris after finishing fifth at the Pan-American and Oceania Championships in April 2024 and will be looking to build on his recent form and improve on his 17th place finish in Rio.

Meanwhile, representing Australia in the women’s competition, Katharina Haecker will take part in the -63kg weight class with teammate Aoife Coughlan lining up in the -70kg group.

Both women showed strong form in their qualification campaign. Katharina equals the most Olympic Judo appearances by an Australian woman, competing at her third Games, and coming off Grand Prix silver and bronze earlier this year, while Aoife returns for her second Games, earning two Grand Slam podium finishes in the past 12 months.

Aoife fought her way to the round of 16 in Tokyo. Katharina saw success in both of her Olympic campaigns, also making it to the round of 16 twice.

Ones to Watch 

Australia

Now working with brother Nathan Katz as his training partner and coach, Josh Katz has the potential to improve on his Rio performance having finished in the top 10 in three of the four 2023 World Tour events.

International

The combat sport of Judo is historically dominated by athletes from Asian countries, Team Japan leads the charge, having taken nine of the 14 Olympic titles on home soil in Tokyo 2020. France was also strong at the last Games, taking eight individual medals, and will be eager to expand their success on their home turf this time.

Sport Format

The 15 judo events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games consist of seven men's and seven women's individual events and one mixed team event. Australia will be competing in the individual events, with three judokas taking part across three weight classes.

The individual events are based on a direct elimination system. Repechage contests allow the losers of the quarterfinals a chance to compete for the bronze medals. The competitors will be divided into two tables by means of a draw, and an elimination system will be used to produce two finalists, who will compete for the gold medal. 

The competitors defeated in the quarterfinals will compete in the two repechage contests. The winners of each of these two repechage contests will compete in a bronze-medal contest against the loser of the semi-final contest of the opposite table.

The winners of the bronze-medal contests are awarded the bronze medals, and the losers are placed equal fifth. The losers of the repechage contests are placed equal seventh.

The top eight judoka in each individual event from the International Judo Federation (IJF) Seniors World Ranking List, updated at the end of the qualification period, will be seeded. All other judoka will be randomly drawn.

Schedule

The Paris 2024 Olympic Judo program begins on July 27 at the Champ-de-Mars Arena.