12 judokas will represent Azerbaijan at the Grand Prix tournament in Austria

Baku, 23. Mai, AZERTAC

Austria’s best judoka have been training three days a week on the Linzer Gugl in the Olympic Center since 2021. With immediate effect, Linz is again part of the World Tour calendar of the International Judo Federation (IJF). The Upper Austria Grand Prix 2023 will take place from May 25th to 27th in the TipsArena in Linz. In 2023 and 2024, the red-white-red top judo event will also count towards the Olympic qualification for the Summer Games in Paris. The minimum term of the IJF contract is four years.

According to AZERTAC, 4 Azerbaijani athletes and 8 male athletes will take part in this year’s Grand Prix.

“We want to bring major sporting events to Austria as a sporting country – we have also succeeded here. It is a great opportunity to spread positive sporting and tourist images of Upper Austria all over the world. We will be the usual warm hosts,” says Markus Achleitner, head of the state for sports and economics. 400 judoka from 50 nations are expected. The TV signal is broadcast live to 190 countries. “We will be able to welcome a good 800 people to the tournament, and expect more than 2,000 overnight stays in Linz,” believes ÖJV President Martin Poiger.

Upper Austria’s regional association president, Manfred Reisinger, expects a rush of spectators: “We will certainly be able to welcome thousands of fans in Linz. It is not for nothing that Upper Austria is considered a judo stronghold with traditional clubs such as Fairdrive Leonding, UJZ Mühlviertel, JT Salzkammergut or Multikraft Wels.”