Monday, 9:45 a.m., the first of a total of 30 scheduled training sessions takes place at the Olympic Training Camp (OTC for short) in Mittersill. The largest and best-known training camp in the world attracts a total of 781 athletes from 50 nations. The international judo family has more than 1,000 beds in 41 hotels. 14 Olympic champions, 7 world ranking first and 5 current world champions are expected. Host Austria has more than 80 judoka on the entry list, above all the Olympic medal winners: Michaela Polleres and Shamil Borchashvili.
On Saturday, almost 60 firefighters laid a good 650 mats (2 x 1 m) over a total area of 1,300 square meters and the accreditations were prepared in the Mittersill National Park Center. Most of the nations arrive on Sunday. Training starts on Monday morning. “When the hall fills up, committed young talents line up next to highly decorated judo stars… Then our hearts rise, the effort of the last few weeks has paid off for the 29th time,” says organizer Ali Gmeiner, full of anticipation. Postscript: “We are prepared!”
