ZAGREB, 24 Sept 2021 - Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Friday received for talks representatives of the International Judo Federation (IJF) and the Croatian Judo Federation, on the occasion of the IJF World Judo Tour - Zagreb Grand Prix 2021.

IJF president Marius Vizer, Croatian Judo Federation president Sandra Čorak, Croatian Judo Federation honorary president Tomislav Čuljak, and Hrvoje Lindi, secretary general of the Croatian Judo Federation attended the meeting. The prime minister was accompanied by Tourism and Sports Minister Nikolina Brnjac.

They discussed the upcoming Grand Prix in Zagreb, a competition important for promoting judo and Croatia in the world, which PM Plenković will officially open today.

PM Plenković congratulated the International Judo Federation and the Croatian Judo Federation on their many activities and expressed the government's continued support for developing sports and encouraging sport activities for a healthier and more active life, especially among young people. Also, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports provides continuous financial support to the activities of the Croatian Judo Federation.

The meeting underscored the importance of popularising judo among young people and its participants mentioned Croatian judoka Barbara Matić's success and her gold medal at the World Judo Championship in Budapest.

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June 10, 2021 - Barbara Matić won the gold medal at the World Judo Championships in Hungary!

In the category of up to 70 kilograms, the Split judo fighter defeated the Japanese judo fighter Yoko Ono in the final thus achieved the best result in the history of Croatian judo.

Index.hr reports that Matić solved the fight with a great move 40 seconds before the end and defended herself masterfully until the end to reach the gold medal.

The 26-year-old Matić withstood the terrible attack in the last 28 seconds with her incredible defense and big heart, and then triumphantly raised her hands in the air to celebrate.

Matić thus continued with great results this season. In October, she achieved one of the best results of her career in Budapest after winning gold at the Grand Slam in Budapest, beating three medal winners from the last World Championships.

She also won the SN Athlete of the Year award and won silver at another Grand Slam as part of the IJF World Tour in Antalya, Turkey. She was in great shape before the European Championships but had to miss it as she tested positive for coronavirus. However, she made up for everything at this World Championships by winning the gold medal. She will go to the Olympic Games full of confidence.

Croatian judo fighters have not yet finished their performance in Hungary. On Friday, Karla Prodan will compete in the category up to 78 kilograms, and Zlatko Kumrić will be looking for a medal in the category up to 100 kilograms. Ivana Maranić will be looking for a place in the Olympic Games in the 78 kg category on Saturday.

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TCN brings you the itinerary of Croatian athletes' participation at the Olympics (all times are in Central European Time Zone)

In the second article about the Olympic team, we introduce the Croatian representatives in wrestling, basketball, judo, swimming and table tennis

As we started to write the article about two athletes denied the opportunity to appear at the Olympic Games due to a mistake made by the Croatian Judo Federation, as somebody forgot to sign them up for the qualifying tournament, (we wonder if they forgot to sign the salary checks for the officials?) we stumbled upon the article written by Bernard Jurišić on his official page. We bring it to you as it is written.