The first judokas to earn places at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games will be known this week. On Thursday and Friday (September 4-5), 234 athletes from 36 countries will go into battle at the world championships at the United States Olympic Training Centre in Colorado Springs, with 13 places at Rio 2016 at stake.

Paralympic judo is contested by athletes with a visual impairment and the champion in each weight category will earn a spot for their country at the next Paralympic Games. These places will be allocated to the National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) of the winning athletes. The NPCs will then decide which judo athletes will represent them in Rio.

Oleksandr Kosinov, the gold medallist in the -81kg category at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, views qualification for Rio 2016 as a priority. After training hard in 2014, the Ukrainian is in confident mood.

“We are aiming to win medals at the world championships and earn qualification for Rio 2016,” he said. “I really want to qualify for Rio. This is very important both for me and Ukraine. I’m expecting only the best results at the world championships. It’s going to be very spectacular and very interesting, because the strongest judokas will be there. Our preparation has been very intensive; we’ve had many training camps this year.” 

German's Carmen Brussig (in blue) says she is taking her career 'year by year' (Photo: Getty Images/Gareth Copley)

In the women’s competition, German veteran Carmen Brussig will be one of the best-known judokas. With a gold medal from the London 2012 Paralympic Games, bronze from Beijing 2008 and two world titles, the 37-year-old is one of the favourites in the -48kg category.

“I am not that young anymore so I’m planning only year by year,” she said. “But certainly I would like to collect ranking points in Colorado. I would like to win a medal. Everything depends on my body. If I can stay fit, I will be able to influence things.”

The world championships will offer places at Rio 2016 for the champions of the seven men’s categories (-60kg, -66kg, -73kg, -81kg, -90kg, -100kg and 100+kg) and the six women’s (-48kg, -52kg, -57kg, -63kg, -70kg and 70+kg).

The judo tournament at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games will feature 12 athletes in each men’s category and eight competitors in each women’s category, totalling 132 participants. As the host nation, Brazil has the right to a place in each category. After the world championships, the remaining places will be determined through the world rankings and invitations by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA).

 Rio2016.com is not an absolute authority on qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is an ongoing process. Final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games). The qualification systems are defined by each sport’s respective International Federation and the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee, and are subject to change. When an athlete or team wins a quota place for their nation, the final decision on whether this ‘slot’ is used and which athletes are sent is taken by the respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee (NOC or NPC). Even when athletes win a ‘nominal’ place for themselves, NOCs/NPCs may have to decide who to send if the number of qualified athletes from one country exceeds the quota