History of SO Judo

Judo made its debut  as a demonstration event at the Special Olympics  World Summer Games in Ireland in 2003. At this inaugural event over 80 athletes from 9 countries competed for the prestigious title of Special Olympic World Champion.

Although this was the first major judo competition, SO judo had already started in Europe/Eurasia in  Andorra, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel and Netherlands.

The development of special needs judo had already began across Europe thanks to the efforts and cooperation of Tomas Rundqvist (Sweden), Ben van der Eng (Netherlands), Roy Court (Wales) and Marita Kokkonen (Finland). It was the vision and dedication of this group with the help of SO European Sports Director Marius Damentko, that resulted in the successful inclusion of Judo in the Special Olympic Sports Programme.

Growth of SO Judo Worldwide

Since 2003 judo has grown amongst Special Olympic nations throughout the  world at an amazing rate and now tops over 19,000 participants, spanning 45 countries.

Here’s how it progressed,

• 2002                         7 Countries                      1285 Players
• 2005 – 2007           30 Countries                   9,043 Players
• 2008 – 2010           35 Countries                   10,993 Players
• 2011 – 2013            41 Countries                    12,642 Players
• 2014 – 2017            42 Countries                    18,130 Players
• 2019                         45 Countries                    19,093 Players

During the covid pandemic, participation in SO judo (and most other sports) dropped significantly. We are happy to said that recovery and growth  is well and truly  back on track.

World Games Participation

Special Olympic World Games are the pinnacle for competing  Special Olympic athletes around the world and Judo has been represented at the previous 6 Special Olympic World Games so far.

Here are the stats,

• 2003 Dublin, Ireland             9 Nations            80 athletes
• 2007 Shanghai, China           19 Nations           130 athletes
• 2011 Athens, Greece              25 Nations           126 athletes
• 2015 Los Angeles, USA         22 Nations           101 athletes
• 2019  Abu Dhabi, UAE       25 Nations            132 athletes
• 2013 Berlin, Germany          34 Nations            128 athletes

Although the number of athletes remains similar due to international allocations, what is interesting is the number of competing nations continues to increase.

Current & Future Developments

Recent Development

• Unified Kata has recently been added to the SO Judo programme

  Unified Kata is open to all levels (1-5)

  • Level 1 & 2: Unified Sports® Competitive Model
  • Level 3, 4, 5: Unified Sports® Player Development Model

  ‣Unified Kata made its debut as a demonstration sport at the Special Olympics World Games 2023 in Berlin, Germany

• To promote and develop Unified Kata, we have run a number of international seminars across Europe with incredible success and plan to continue this development
• In 2021, in conjunction with the Special Olympics International Education Commission, we developed the first ever Coaching Guide for SO judo. This extensive coaching guide covers everything you need to know about Special Olympics Judo, all in one place. We invite you to take a look – please note the guide is currently in English only Coaching Guide 2021

Current/Future Development

• Develop a comprehensive SO Referee development programme for both Shiai and Kata
• The ambition now is to increase further the participation of judo in existing SO judo  nations and to increase the number of nations offering judo.
• The focus for future development is now SO judo in Latin America, Asia and Africa
• Constantly review and develop the Safety Rules to ensure the best possible experience and development for our athletes