Photo : Branko Radovanović, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Zagreb Grand Prix, the last Grand Prix on the International Judo Federation's 2026 calendar, began on Friday, November 13, in Croatia and runs until Sunday. The 16th edition brings together 476 judoka, 276 men and 186 women, from 68 delegations. According to the IJF, 28 athletes ranked in the world top ten of their category have entered, chasing world ranking points.
Issoufi looks to go one better
France's headline name is Kaïla Issoufi at -78 kg. Born in Mayotte, she won silver at the 2026 World Championships in Baku, beating world number one Anna Monta Olek of Germany in the semi-final before losing the final. In an interview published by the French federation in late October, she called her move up to -78 kg the best decision of her life: in under two years at the weight, she has become a European medallist and world silver medallist. The IJF lists her among the contenders alongside Britain's Emma Reid and Israel's Inbar Lanir, an Olympic medallist in Paris in 2024. Her compatriot Léa Fontaine is entered at +78 kg.
The other draws are strong too. At -48 kg, Italy's Assunta Scutto, the 2025 world champion and a five-time world medallist, is the clear favourite ahead of Spain's Eva Pérez Soler and the Netherlands' Amber Gersjes. At -63 kg, the top seed is Dutch 2024 world champion Joanne Van Lieshout, with Canada's Jessica Klimkait and home fighter Iva Oberan also in the mix. At +100 kg, Azerbaijan's Ushangi Kokauri, world silver medallist in Baku and a finalist at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam two weeks ago, will have to watch his compatriot Kanan Nasibov, a 2026 world bronze medallist.
Three days of competition
The draw took place on Thursday under IJF Head Sport Director Vladimir Barta. On Friday, preliminaries began at 9:45 local time, with the final block held each afternoon. Fifteen international referees are on duty, and IJF supervisors double-check video review decisions. All contests stream live on JudoTV. Each winner takes home 3,000 euros, 600 of which go to the coach.
For many judoka, Zagreb is one of the last chances to collect points before the World Masters in Dushanbe, which starts on December 18, and the Tokyo Grand Slam in early December. Issoufi has named the Masters as her next target of the year.
Story written by our news agent from the cited source.
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