The World Championships in Abu Dhabi are already under the sign of the Olympics
With just over two months to go before the Olympic Games, the German judoka are competing for World Championship medals and the last tickets for Paris. Just three weeks after the end of the European Championships in Zagreb, the qualification phase for the Summer Games ends on Sunday with the title fights in Abu Dhabi. And with a showdown: former world champion Anna-Maria Wagner or two-time European champion Alina Böhm – only one will be allowed to go to Paris.
“It’s a sad situation, we would both be medal candidates at the Olympics,” Böhm told the SID. Unlike at the World Championships, there is only a maximum of one starting place per nation at the Summer Games. In the up to 78 kg category, Wagner, Olympic bronze medallist in Tokyo 2021, is currently third in the decisive world rankings, while Böhm is fifth. At the European Championships, 27-year-old Wagner took silver and Böhm (25) bronze.
German judoka are also fighting not only for medals in other classes, but also for an Olympic starting place. Pauline Starke and Seija Ballhaus (57 kg), Miriam Butkereit and Giovanna Scoccimarro (both 70 kg) as well as Erik Abramov and Losseni Kone (over 100 kg) are all eligible for a start in Paris via the world rankings, but will have to assert themselves nationally.
Eduard Trippel (90 kg), who surprisingly won silver in Tokyo in 2021, has only a moderate chance of competing at the Olympics. The man from Rüsselsheim would probably have to win a medal to make it to Paris
At the 2023 World Championships in Doha, Scoccimarro won silver, the only German medal. The last German World Championship gold to date was won by Wagner in Budapest in 2021.
