Judoka Tulika Mann at Olympic Games Paris 2024: History, Format, Medal chances, Schedule

Once a traditional Japanese sport, now a competitive Olympic sport, Judo has travelled far and wide to be played by people from various nations.

Judo was developed in Japan in 1882 by combining jujutsu, a form of close combat sport, with the principle of mental training.

The origins of jujutsu ultimately lie in Sumo, the ancient Japanese sport.

The man behind the global popularity of judo and its inclusion in the Olympics is Kano Jigoro, the founder of the sport. Jigoro was always dedicated to spreading judo to the rest of the world and visited Europe in 1889 to introduce it.

He was also a member of the International Olympic Committee and worked tirelessly to include judo in the Olympics.

Jigoro's wishes came true when Judo was first inducted into the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. However, only men’s judo was recognized as an official Olympic event, with bouts in different weight classes.

Women’s judo was introduced as a demonstration sport at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and became an official Olympic event four years later at the Barcelona Olympics.

Not so surprisingly, Japan, the country of origin for judo, dominate the charts with the most overall medals in the Olympics.

However, it is worth noting that more people now follow the sport outside Japan. France, the host of the Paris Olympics 2024, has more judo practitioners than Japan.

Format

Judo at the Paris Olympics 2024 includes fourteen weight classes, with seven categories for the men and women's categories. The competition will be held at Champ de Mars Arena in Paris.

In each weight category, athletes are seeded in a single-elimination bracket, following a conventional knockout format. Those defeated in the quarterfinals will contest in the repechage round, which allows double bronze medals to be awarded to the judokas.

For Paris 2024 and future editions, several rule changes have been incorporated to enhance the judo event. According to fundamental judo rules, victory can be achieved through three methods:

1) Performing an effective throw

2) Holding the opponent down for 20 seconds

3) Forcing a submission via arm lock or strangulation

The waza-ari (second-highest score a judoka can achieve) scoring system remains the same as the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where a judoka can earn a waza-ari by either pinning their opponent for 10 to 20 seconds or executing a well-controlled throw.

They are now considered equivalent to ippon (the highest score a judoka can achieve) for determining the result. The timing of four minutes has been set for men reduced by one minute to be aligned with that of women.

Additionally, penalty scores no longer contribute to ending the match.

Medal Chances

Tulika Mann will be the lone judoka to represent India at the Paris Olympics. She will be competing in the Women's +78kg category.

Tulika has a good chance of winning a medal if she can overcome Su Xin of China whom she previously faced in the Asian Championships and had a tough outing against. She could also play against France’s Romane Dicko who is both agile and strong.

Schedule for Tulika Mann

All judo matches of Women's +78kg weight class, including the medal rounds, will take place on August 2.

Tulika Mann is scheduled to face Idalys Ortiz of Cuba in the Round of 32 elimination round at 1:30 PM Indian Standard Time (IST). If Tulika Mann advances, she will continue to compete in the subsequent knockout rounds and the repechage.

Indian judokas at Olympics

Tulika Mann will be the 17th Indian judoka to compete at the Olympics.

Since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, a total of 16 judokas, both men and women, have represented India.

Tulika will be the ninth woman judoka from India to compete at the Olympics. No Indian judoka won a medal at the Olympics.

It remains to be seen whether Tulika Mann, the Commonwealth Games silver medallist, can make history by becoming the first Indian to win an Olympic medal in judo.