The Judo Grand Slam tournaments are international judo tournaments held by the International Judo Federation as part of the IJF World Tour.[1]
After the Olympic Games, World Championships and World Masters, the Grand Slam tournaments are the highest-ranking worldwide judo tournaments, i.e. the tournaments in which the judoka can acquire the most ranking points.[2]
While some sources states that the first Grand Slam tournament was held in Tokyo in December 2008,[3] the IJF titled it as "Kano Cup", not "Grand Slam".[4] In 2009 additional tournaments were also held in Paris, Moscow and Rio de Janeiro. In 2013, Baku replaced Rio de Janeiro. Until 2013 there were four Grand Slam tournaments every year. In 2014 it was decided that a fifth tournament would be added which would be held in Abu Dhabi. In 2019 two additional tournaments were added.
| Tournament | City | Country | Editions | Months | Years | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GS Paris | Paris | 16 | February | 2009 | 2015 and 2021 in October | ||
| GS Tokyo | Tokyo | 12 | November/December | 200817, 2022 | The tournament moved to Osaka during 2018[5] 19 due to the renovation of the Tokyo hall where the tournament takes place. | ||
| GS Osaka | Osaka | 2 | November | 201819 | |||
| GS Moscow | Moscow | 5 | May/July | 200913 | |||
| GS Tyumen | Tyumen | 3 | July | 201416 | |||
| GS Ekaterinburg | Yekaterinburg | 3 | March/May | 201719 | |||
| GS Kazan | Kazan | 1 | May | 2021 | On 25 February 2022 the International Judo Federation canceled the tournament in Russia in response to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine[6] | ||
| GS Rio de Janeiro | Rio de Janeiro | 4 | May/June/July | 200912 | |||
| GS Brasília | Brasília | 1 | October | 2019 | |||
| GS Baku | Baku | 10 | March/May | 2013 | The event wasn't held in 2018 because the 2018 World Cup was held in Baku that year | ||
| GS Abu Dhabi | Abu Dhabi | 9 | October | 2014 | |||
| GS Düsseldorf | Düsseldorf | 3 | February | 201820 | The tournament moved from Baku to Düsseldorf in 2018.The German Judo Federation announced on 15 February 2022 that the event will be canceled this year due to financial difficulties resulting from the restrictions caused by the Corona pandemic. | ||
| GS Budapest | Budapest | 2 | July/October | 2020 | |||
| GS Tel Aviv | Tel Aviv | 3 | February/December | 2021 | Being held as a Grand Prix for the inaugural two years, the tournament was elevated to a Grand Slam in 2021.[7] | ||
| GS Taschkent | Tashkent | 3 | March | 2021 | |||
| GS Tbilisi | Tbilisi | 4 | March | 2021 | |||
| GS Antalya | Antalya | 4 | April | 2021 | |||
| GS Ulaanbaatar | Ulaanbaatar | 2 | June | 202223 | |||
| GS Astana | Astana | 1 | June | 2023 |
As in any IJF World Tour tournament, athletes earn WRL points by competing in IJF Grand Slam events. Points are awarded based on judoka placement in the competition.[2] [8]