Official webpage of Kazan Grand Slam 2021
The next IJF World Tour grand slam was held at the Tatneft Arena Ice Palace, Kazan, 5th-7th May 2021. The event brought together 408 athletes from 79 countries, across fourteen weight categories. 66 officials managed the tournament and 200 volunteers lent their hands to the smooth running of the event, within an array of functional areas.
About Tournament
Russia’s grand slam is a prestigious annual tournament, offering significant ranking points towards world ranking and Olympic qualifying, with only the World Championships and World Judo Masters delivering more points on the tournament circuit.
Russia has been hosting grand slam tournaments since the 1990s, including exciting venue cities, highlighting some of the best of Russia’s history, landscapes and culture: Moscow, Tyumen, Ekaterinburg and now Kazan. Kazan, in Tatarstan, is the sports capital of Russia and became a fitting location to host the final grand slam of this Olympic cycle.
The world’s strongest judoka met in the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, to match strategy, skill and strength in the lead-up to the Hungary World Championships, being held in Budapest in June and the long-awaited Tokyo Olympic Games, due to open in July.
Since 2009, the International Judo Federation (IJF) has organised yearly World Championships and the World Judo Tour, consisting of five grand prix, four grand slams and a World Judo Masters tournament. A year ago, the Ekaterinburg Grand Slam brought together over 300 athletes representing 47 countries and Team Russia managed to win three gold, two silver and four bronze medals and rose to first place in the overall team standings.
Judo in Kazan
Judo’s history in Kazan started with the delivery of the World University Summer Games in 2013. The judo tournament was part of the multi-sport event’s sports programme. The venue for this year’s grand slam is the same one occupied during the Summer Universiade, the Tatneft Arena Ice Palace. A high standard of tournament organisation gave the city of Kazan the opportunity to stage another judo event, the European Championships, in 2016.