Tbilisi, Georgia: The European Judo Championship will be held in Tbilisi in 2026. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze supported this initiative, and the decision was taken today in Zagreb.
The capital of Croatia hosted this year’s European Judo Championship. The Georgian team finished the continent’s championship with eight medals in judo. Georgian athletes received two gold, two silver, and three bronze medals in individual competitions and took first place in team counting. After the tournament, the mixed Georgian women’s and men’s teams became vice-champions today.
Vaja Margvelashvili and Tato Grigalashvili won gold, Ilia Sulamanidze and Guram Tushishvili won silver, and Ether Liparteliani, Lasha Bekauri, and Lasha Shavdatuashvili won bronze.
First Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports of Georgia Ioseb Bagaturia, Ambassador Emergency and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Republic of Croatia Zaza Gogsadze, and President of Judo Federation of Georgia Giorgi Atabegashvili attended the European Championships in Zagreb. After the tournament, Joseph Bagaturia took part in the award ceremony for the winning teams.
At the continental championship held in Zagreb, an agreement on holding the European Championship in Georgia was signed. With Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s support, Georgia accepted the European Judo Union’s offer to host the European Judo Championship in April 2026.
In Zagreb, the European Judo Union named Tato Grigalashvili as the best male judoist of 2023 and Shalva Gureshidze as the best team of the year, named Georgian women’s and men’s mixed team.
European Judo Championships
The European Judo Championships is the Judo European Championship organized by the European Judo Union. The 2015 and 2019 editions were held during the respective European Games, and this is also expected for future editions of the European Games. The World Judo Championships are the highest level of international judo competition, along with the Olympic judo competition.
