World Judo Championships 2024 Abu Dhabi: Preview, schedule and how to watch live

Top stories to look out for at the World Judo Championships 2024

Queen of -63kg: Clarisse Agbegnenou

Olympic gold medallist and six-time world champion Clarisse Agbegnenou is the undisputed queen of the -63kg category. Having won her sixth world title in 2023 less than one year after giving birth, the French powerhouse has set her sights on an historic seventh gold before competing to defend her Tokyo 2020 Olympic title at home in Paris.

Battle for Olympic quotas: -57kg and -78kg

With only one athlete per nation per category able to compete in judo at the Olympic Games, these world championships are the last chance for many judoka to prove themselves worthy of representing their country.

At -57kgs, all eyes will surely be on two names: world number one Christa Deguchi and world number two Jessica Klimkait. The two Olympic hopefuls have been neck-and-neck for years, but the final decision of who will secure the Olympic quota will come down to their performances at this year’s world championships. In 2021, it was Klimkait who came out on top. Could it go the other way this year?

A similar story is happening in the -78kg category, where 2021 world champion and Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Anna-Maria Wagner will battle it out with her compatriot and two-time European champion Alina Boehm for the German -78kg spot.

*As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes’ participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.

-48kg and -52kg: two new world champions will be crowned

With the current world champions in the -48kg and -52kg categories not attending the 2024 world championships, one thing is for sure: we will have two new world champions.

Japan’s dominance in the -48kg weight class faces a tough challenge from Italy’s world number one, Assunta Scutto, who is hungry to upgrade her junior world title to a senior title. Can Koga Wakana maintain Japan’s streak? Or will Scutto snatch the crown?

Kosovo’s Olympic champion at -48kgs Distria Krasniqi has moved up to -52kgs and is looking to secure the only title missing from her collection. With the seemingly unbeatable world and Olympic champion Abe Uta absent, this just might be her chance. But standing in her path is Olympic silver medallist Amandine Buchard of France, who holds four-to-one wins against her, including the 2023 World Masters and European Championship golds, where she defeated Krasniqi in both finals.