Agadir welcomes the World of judo for second Grand Prix in 2018

Agadir, Morocco, will be the world judo capital this weekend organising the second Grand Prix of the season and the fourth event since January will take place there as the world circuit will again stop in the 'Country of the Far Sunset'. As the Olympic qualification approaches (May 2018), this Grand Prix will allow some athletes to perform again, while others will try to find a spot under the sun of the world ranking list.

Agadir is a Berber-speaking town in the south-west of the country, located on the Atlantic coast, in the region of Sus, 508 km south of Casablanca, 173 km from Essaouira and 235 km west of Marrakech. Agadir is the capital of the administrative region Sus-Massa and the prefecture of Agadir Ida-U-Tanan. According to the last statistics, it had more than 420,000 inhabitants. Ravaged by an earthquake in 1960, the city was completely rebuilt according to seismic standards and it is now the largest resort in Morocco, the city enjoying an exceptionally mild climate throughout the year.

Morocco already has a long history of judo and has, on several occasions in recent years, directly received support from His Majesty, King Mohammed VI. This was the case at the very recent World Open Championships (November 2017), which saw the consecration of Asahina Sarah (JPN) in women and the tenth world title of Teddy Riner (FRA) in men. In May 2015, the capital Rabat hosted the World Masters and in 2010 the Junior World Judo Championships were held in Morocco as well. This event was already held in Agadir.

After two Grand Slams which have just been organised in Europe (Paris and Düsseldorf), the Grand Prix cycle resumes in Africa and to date 281 athletes (163 men and 118 women) representing 43 countries are registered. As the host country, Morocco will line up a team of 39 competitors, led by its local star, Assmaa Niang, fifth of the last World Championships in Budapest, who participated in the Marrakech open world championship as she was several dozens of kilograms lighter than some of her opponents. But nothing frightened the veteran judoka, who will do anything to shine in front of her public over the weekend.

Some athletes will return in Agadar where in 2010 the World Junior Championships were held with legendary young World Champions as Alexander Wieczerzak, Avtandili Tchrikishvili, Ryunosuke Haga, Mayra Aguiar and Yeldos Smetov, who all became senior World Champions.