Los Angeles Rush: Russian judoka join the fight for the 2028 Olympics
The Grand Slam Judo tournament, which will be held in Ulaanbaatar from June 19 to 21 at the AIC Steppe Arena, will be the first official stage of the Olympic qualification cycle for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. In addition, since June 1, Russian judo athletes have been granted the right to compete in international competitions under the national flag and with the national anthem. Therefore, starting in the Mongolian capital is very important from a psychological point of view. The leaders of our national team approached him in good shape and are claiming at least several awards.
Olympic Qualification-2028
The International Judo Federation (IJF) has included this start in the World Tour calendar as a competition from which the scoring of rating points begins, affecting the final distribution of permits. According to the IJF rules, 18 judoka with the highest rating will receive an Olympic license in each weight category as of May 28, 2028, while only one athlete per category can be qualified from one national federation. An exception is made for the host countries of the Games: the United States receives one automatic quota in each weight category, which reduces the number of rated permits to 17 in these weights, but this does not matter for Russian judoists, since they claim common places.
Olympic qualification in judo is arranged in such a way that the result at each stage of the World Tour is summed up with others and after each tournament the world ranking list is updated. The best five performances of an athlete during the qualifying period are counted, while Grand Slam tournaments are rated higher than Grand Prix or continental championships. The selection process for Los Angeles will end in May 2028, and all 24 Russian judoka announced in Ulaanbaatar will participate in it. The first tournament sets the starting positions: a poor performance can be compensated for in subsequent stages, but losing points at an early stage reduces admission to later competitions, as the ranking also affects seeding and the draw. Therefore, each member of the Russian delegation considers the Grand Slam in Mongolia as a mandatory minimum for scoring points, which will allow them to keep their place in the top 18 in their category.
The Russian national team
A delegation of the Russian Judo Federation arrived in Ulaanbaatar consisting of 24 athletes, which is the maximum quota that can be claimed for one Grand Slam stage. The application includes 13 men and 11 women, distributed in all weight categories from 48 kg to 78+ kg for women and from 60 to 100+ kg for men. Timur Arbuzov, the current European and world champion, who occupies the first line of the world ranking in his weight, was announced among men in the category up to 81 kg. Inal Tasoev, a two-time world champion and winner of 11 Grand Slam events, including the two previous tournaments in Ulaanbaatar (2022 and 2023), will compete in the heavyweight division. Tasoev is also a silver medalist at the 2024 World Championships.
In the weight class up to 66 kg, Russia is represented by Ramazan Abdulaev, a five—time Grand Slam winner, and Murad Chopanov, the 2025 European champion. In the category up to 73 kg, Karen Galstyan, the winner of the Grand Slam in Tashkent in 2025, and Danil Lavrentiev, the European champion in 2025 and the silver medalist of last year's tournament in Ulaanbaatar, were announced. Egor Andoni, the bronze medalist of the Paris Grand Slam in 2026, and Mansur Lorsanov, a four-time winner of the series tournaments, are competing in the weight class up to 90 kg. Arman Adamyan, the 2023 World champion, and Ildar Bifov compete in the under 100 kg category. In the heavyweight division, Tasoev will be accompanied by Valery Endovitsky, a prize-winner of the European Championships. Achyty Dombuu and Dmitry Kotelnikov are announced in the weight class up to 60 kg.
The women's part of the national team includes 11 athletes. Madina Taymazova, the bronze medalist of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, was announced in the weight class up to 70 kg. Ksenia Galitskaya, who won the Grand Slam in Ulaanbaatar in 2025, competes in the category up to 63 kg. In the weight class up to 78 kg, Russia is represented by Alexandra Babintseva and Alexandra Ryabchenko. Alice Startseva and Maria Ivanova were announced in the heavyweight category over 78 kg. In lightweights: up to 48 kg — Sabina Gilyazova and Marina Vorobyeva, up to 52 kg — Lilia Nugaeva, up to 57 kg — Irina Zueva and Natalia Elkina. All 24 athletes arrived in Ulaanbaatar on June 10 and held several training sessions at the main arena. Tamerlan Bashayev and Ayub Bliev also flew to Mongolia with the delegation, who will compete at the next Grand Prix tournament in Qingdao, but use the current stage for joint training with the main team.
Medal prospects
If a Russian judoka wins the tournament in Ulaanbaatar, the Russian flag will be raised and the national anthem will be played. This status change does not affect the competition rules — rating points are awarded, the draw and judging are carried out according to the standard IJF rules. For athletes, the return of national symbols means that they no longer perform in a neutral status.
The medal prospects of the Russian national team are assessed based on current positions in the world ranking and results from previous tournaments. Inal Tasoev currently holds the second place in the world ranking in the over 100 kg category, second only to Japanese Tatsuru Abe, and has two Grand Slam wins in Ulaanbaatar, which makes him one of the favorites. Timur Arbuzov, the world ranking leader in the weight class up to 81 kg, is also among the contenders for gold — in April 2026, he became a two-time European champion. Arman Adamyan, the 2023 world champion, is in the top five of the world rankings in the under-100 kg category and took third place at the previous Grand Slam in Paris. Among women, Madina Taymazova ranks fourth in the weight category up to 70 kg, and Ksenia Galitskaya ranks sixth in the category up to 63 kg. The rest of the Russian athletes are among the 20-30 strongest in their weight categories, which allows them to qualify for the final blocks, but for medals of high dignity it is necessary to overcome rivals from Japan, France, South Korea and Mongolia.
Regulations and timing
The tournament in Ulaanbaatar gathered 478 participants from 62 countries. The teams of Japan (38 athletes), France (32), South Korea (28) and the hosts Mongolia (35) have the largest representation. The competition will be held on three tatami mats, the schedule provides for four weight categories for men and women on each of the three days. On the first day, June 19, medals will be awarded in the categories up to 60 and 66 kg for men, as well as up to 48 and 52 kg for women. On the second day — up to 73 and 81 kg for men, up to 57 and 63 kg for women. On the final day, June 21, the winners in the weights up to 90, 100 and over 100 kg for men, as well as up to 70, 78 and over 78 kg for women, will be determined.
In each weight class, there is an Olympic system with elimination after defeat and consolation matches for bronze medals. The prize fund of the tournament is 154,000 euros, of which the winners receive 5,000 euros each, the finalists 3,000, and the bronze medalists 1,500, but for athletes the main value is rating points.: 1000 for the first place, 700 for the second, 500 for the bronze. The IJF technical delegate approved the composition of the judging panel of 12 arbitrators. The refereeing rules correspond to the 2024-2028 version, with an emphasis on active attacking actions and penalties for passivity.
The time of the bout is 4 minutes of the main time, in case of a draw, a "golden score" is assigned until the first technical action. These routine details are important for preparation, and the Russian coaches, led by Dmitry Morozov, head coach of the Russian national team, conducted an analysis of typical mistakes of previous stages with the team. According to the press service of the Russian Judo Federation, all athletes underwent a medical weigh-in on June 18 and are in combat condition.
The official opening ceremony will take place on June 19 at 9:00 a.m. local time, after which the fights will begin. Tickets for the competition went on sale a month before the start, all stands for 5,000 seats are sold out. The television rights to broadcast were acquired by the Mongolian MNB channel, the Japanese NHK and the French France Television, the Russian show was provided by the Match! channel. Arena" with live broadcasts from Ulaanbaatar. The next stage of the World Tour, the Grand Slam in Budapest— will be held from July 10-12, and it will be influenced by the grid formed following the results of the Mongolian tournament. Therefore, every fight in Ulaanbaatar is of great importance for the Olympic race, and it is from this point of view that the performance of the Russian team should be evaluated.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
