What is judo?
Judo — "the gentle way" — is the Japanese martial art and Olympic sport of throwing, pinning, choking and armlocking, founded by Jigoro Kanō at the Kodokan in 1882. A perfect throw (ippon) ends the contest instantly; the sport gave the world the coloured belt system, and through Kanō's student Mitsuyo Maeda it seeded Brazilian jiu-jitsu.[1] [2]
How does judo work?
Four-minute contests in fourteen weight classes, decided by ippon or accumulated scores, with golden-score overtime. The IJF's World Judo Tour — Grand Slams, Masters and continental opens — feeds the Olympic ranking list that governs qualification and seeding, an unusually transparent points ladder even among Olympic combat sports.[2] [3]
Where is judo strong?
Japan is the homeland and standard — the Abe siblings its modern faces — with France astonishing in depth (Teddy Riner the sport's great champion, and French clubs counting over half a million members), plus Georgia, Uzbekistan, Brazil, South Korea, Mongolia, Italy and the Caucasus states at the top of every Worlds.[2] [4]
How is judo awarded?
Who has won the most in judo?
Olympic judo only; a World Championship list is not attempted because no database covers the senior Worlds before the 2010s to a verifiable standard. Mixed-team medals (2020 and 2024) are included as Olympedia counts them — on individual medals alone Ryoko Tamura-Tani would lead the women. Ranked by total, then gold, then silver; through Paris 2024.
Most Olympic judo medals — men
| Rank | Name | Country | Years | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Teddy Riner | France | 2008–2024 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 2 | Takanori Nagase | Japan | 2016–2024 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Hifumi Abe | Japan | 2020–2024 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Angelo Parisi | Great Britain (1972), France (1980–84) | 1972–1984 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Tadahiro Nomura | Japan | 1996–2004 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Shohei Ono | Japan | 2016–2020 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | David Douillet | France | 1992–2000 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | Aaron Wolf | Japan | 2020–2024 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 9= | Lasha Shavdatuashvili | Georgia | 2012–2024 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 9= | Yeldos Smetov | Kazakhstan | 2016–2024 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 9= | Luka Mkheidze | France | 2020–2024 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Most Olympic judo medals — women
| Rank | Name | Country | Years | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clarisse Agbegnenou | France | 2016–2024 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | Ryoko Tamura-Tani | Japan | 1992–2008 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 3= | Amandine Buchard | France | 2020–2024 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 3= | Sarah-Léonie Cysique | France | 2020–2024 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Romane Dicko | France | 2020–2024 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 6 | Idalys Ortiz | Cuba | 2008–2024 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | Driulis González | Cuba | 1992–2008 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 8 | Madeleine Malonga | France | 2020–2024 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 9= | Akira Sone | Japan | 2020–2024 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 9= | Uta Abe | Japan | 2020–2024 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
All-time Olympic judo medal table by country
| Rank | Name | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan | 51 | 23 | 30 | 104 |
| 2 | France | 18 | 15 | 34 | 67 |
| 3 | South Korea | 11 | 19 | 21 | 51 |
| 4 | Cuba | 6 | 15 | 16 | 37 |
| 5 | Brazil | 5 | 4 | 19 | 28 |
| 6 | Netherlands | 4 | 2 | 18 | 24 |
| 7 | Germany | 3 | 5 | 16 | 24 |
| 8 | China | 8 | 3 | 12 | 23 |
| 9 | Soviet Union | 5 | 5 | 13 | 23 |
| 10 | Great Britain | 0 | 8 | 12 | 20 |
Ties are broken by gold, then silver; a tie at tenth place is shown in full when four or fewer share it. Historic teams are kept as separate rows exactly as the source counts them. Verified September 2026.[5] [6] [7]
References
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Judo. Accessed August 2026.
- IJF — official site. Accessed August 2026.
- Olympics.com — Judo. Accessed August 2026.
- Olympics.com — 2025 World Judo Championships, Budapest. Accessed August 2026.
- Olympedia — Judo: all-time medal table and most successful competitors. Accessed September 2026.
- Olympedia — medals by athlete (discipline Judo, Olympic Games), each athlete's results page re-counted. Accessed September 2026.
- IJF — JudoBase results database (senior Worlds coverage begins in the 2010s). Accessed September 2026.