Beautiful and catchy: Russians won six medals at the World Judo Championships

The Russian national team took the fifth overall place at the World Judo Championships, which took place in Baku. In the capital of Azerbaijan, our team won six medals — one gold, one silver and four bronze. Inal Tasoev became the champion in the weight category over 100 kg, silver was won in the team tournament, Sabina Gilyazova (up to 48 kg), Madina Taymazova (up to 70 kg), Niyaz Bilalov (up to 100 kg) and Maria Ivanova (over 78 kg) rose to the third step of the podium. In the medal standings, the Russians lost to Japan, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Spain.

Tasoev's hat trick

622 judoka from 93 countries participated in the competitions, which took place from October 4 to October 10 at the National Gymnastics Arena. The tournament had a special significance because of the status of the Russian participants. Unlike the previous World Championships, the judoka competed under the national flag, and not in a neutral status. On November 27, 2025, the International Judo Federation (IJF) restored their right to use state symbols starting with the Grand Slam tournament in Abu Dhabi. In Baku, the Russian tricolor was present at the award ceremonies, and after Tasoev's victory, the Russian national anthem was played.

Tasoev's triumph was achieved with a margin. The Russian arrived in Azerbaijan as the world heavyweight ranking leader and the current title holder. First, he defeated Montenegrin Stefan Kovinic ahead of schedule, then passed Japanese Kanta Nakano, and in the quarterfinals he met with two-time Olympic champion Lukas Krpalek. The Czech managed to avoid an early defeat, but Tasoev earned a yuko score after tomoe-nage's throw and held the advantage until the end of the bout.

Jamal Gamzatkhanov, representing Azerbaijan, became the Russian's opponent in the semifinals. Tasoev finished the fight ahead of schedule, having conducted a painful reception. Another representative of the hosts, Ushangi Kokauri, the silver medalist of the 2018 World Championships, was waiting for him in the decisive meeting. The Azerbaijani tried to make an internal cut, but Tasoev avoided the throw and responded with a counter-technique from the group of techniques with his hands, receiving an ippon. The fight ended ahead of schedule, without the need to calculate interim scores.

For Tasoev, this is the third victory over Kokauri in the finals of major competitions: in May, the Russian beat him at the Grand Slam tournament in Astana. The history of Inala's three championship titles is also remarkable. He received his first gold in 2023 after reviewing a controversial referee's decision in the final with Teddy Riener. The IJF recognized the mistake of the referees and declared both athletes champions. In 2025, the Russian won gold in Budapest, defeating Georgian Guram Tushishvili. In Baku, the question of the winner was decided directly on the tatami.

The first two bronze medals went to Russian judoka

Sabina Gilyazova, who competed on October 4 in the category up to 48 kg, won the first medal for the Russian team. The 32-year-old athlete defeated Slovakian Patricia Tomankova and Azerbaijani Konul Aliyeva, but lost in the quarterfinals to Japanese Wakana Koga, who later became world champion. Gilyazova defeated German Sarah Isht in the consolation round, after which she got the opportunity to compete for bronze. The opponent turned out to be compatriot Marina Vorobyova, who lost in the semifinals to Italian Assunta Sciutto.

The Russian standoff continued well beyond the four minutes of regular time. Both judoka received warnings, but there were no effective shots. In extra time, the number of comments from each increased to two, and the third shido, pronounced by Vorobyova, became decisive. Thus, Gilyazova won due to the disqualification of her opponent, without earning technical marks for throws or holds. For Sabina, bronze was the first award of the World Championships, although she had repeatedly won medals at international Grand Slam tournaments.

The next Russian success came on October 8, when Madina Taymazova fought in the category up to 70 kg. The bronze medalist of the Tokyo Olympics first defeated Portuguese Taish Pina and British Kelly Petersen-Pollard, but lost to Austrian Michaela Polleres in the quarterfinals. In the consolation bout, Taimazova passed Sweden's Ida Eriksson, and in the match for third place she faced Serbia's Alexandra Andrich. In the middle of the meeting, the Russian made a throw estimated by South Korea, and retained the advantage until the end of regular time. Andrich received two shido, but failed to even the score. For Taimazova, this bronze was the second at the adult World Championships.

The Russian confrontation over the medal

The men had to wait until October 9th for their first award. In the category up to 100 kg, two Russians, Niyaz Bilalov and Arman Adamyan, reached the decisive fights at once. Bilalov began his performance with victories over Australian Axel Nightingale and Dutch Michael Correl, but in the quarterfinals he lost to Georgian Ilya Sulamanidze, who subsequently won gold. In the consolation round, Niyaz defeated the Ukrainian Anton Savitsky. Adamyan— the 2023 world champion— reached the semifinals, where he lost to Japanese Dota Arai. As a result, the Russians met each other in a duel for the bronze.

Bilalov, who is 32 years old, managed to catch Adamyan on the counterattack and got a point. This single scoring score was enough to win: in the remaining time, the opponent did not earn either a point or a waza-ari. For Niyaz, this is the first medal of the adult World Championship, despite the fact that he has been competing internationally since 2014. Prior to Baku, the judoka won the Russian championship three times and repeatedly rose to the podium of major international tournaments. Adamyan finished the competition fifth, although he came to Azerbaijan as a former world champion.

Ivanova brought a historic result to the national team

Russia's last bronze medal was won by 23-year-old Maria Ivanova, who competed on October 10 in the over 78 kg category. She started the tournament with a victory over Georgian Sofio Somkhishvili, whom she threw to the ippon in just five seconds. Then the Russian beat the Frenchwoman Lea Fontaine ahead of schedule, and in the quarterfinals she passed the Japanese Mao Arai. The representative of Japan used a painful technique prohibited by the rules and was disqualified. In the semifinals, Ivanova lost to the 2022 world champion, Frenchwoman Romana Diko, allowing her opponent to hold onto the ippon.

In the battle for the bronze, Ivanova faced Italian Asya Tavano. The opponent tried to teach a mate, but the Russian responded with a similar throw from the other side, got a point and immediately continued her attack in the stalls. Ivanova fixed the hold, brought him to the ippon and ended the meeting ahead of schedule. Thanks to this result, the Russian women's national team won three medals at the same World Championship for the first time in history. Previously, the maximum result was two awards that Russian judoka received, in particular, in 1993 and 2010.

In addition to the five winners, several more Russians stopped right in front of the podium. Ayub Bliyev (up to 60 kg), Murad Chopanov (up to 66 kg), Marina Vorobyeva (up to 48 kg) and Arman Adamyan (up to 100 kg) took fifth place. Valery Endovitsky finished seventh in the heavyweight division. Japan became the leader of the medal standings with seven gold awards, and the hosts of the tournament won seven medals, including Akhmad Yusifov's gold in the category up to 60 kg.

Mixed team competitions were held in Baku on Sunday, October 11. In it, our national team was able to reach the finals, losing to the Japanese with a score of 1:4. The teams of Uzbekistan and Georgia became the bronze medalists. The Russian team consisted of Natalia Elkina, Irina Zueva (both in the weight category up to 57 kg), Tamara Lischenko, Madina Taymazova (both up to 70 kg), Daria Rechkalova (over 70 kg), Buyan-Kherel Sanaa (up to 73 kg), Mansur Lorsanov (up to 90 kg), Tamerlan Bashaev and Inal Tasoev (both over 90 kg).