Nine nations have won the first places in the judo competition at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Algeria, Azerbaijan, China, Hungary, Mexico, Russia, USA, Ukraine and Uzbekistan confirmed their qualification at the world championships, which were held at the United States Olympic Training Centre in Colorado Springs. In total, 234 visually impaired athletes from 36 countries competed for 13 places – one in each of the weight categories.

These places are allocated to the National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) of the winning athletes. The NPCs will then decide which judokas will represent them in Rio.

Ukraine won three of the six women’s weight categories, with Nataliya Nikolayczyk (-52kg), Inna Cherniak (-57kg) and Iryna Husieva (-63kg) coming out on top. China won two places thanks to Li Liquing (-48kg) and Yuan Yanping (70kg+), while Hungary took one spot through Nikolett Szabo (-70kg).

Of the seven men’s weight categories, Azerbaijan took two through Bayram Mustafayev (-66kg) and Ramil Gasimov (-73kg), Algeria’s Noura Mouloud won the -60kg, Mexico’s Eduardo Sanchez took the -81kg, Dartanyon Crockett won the -90kg for USA, Russian Abdula Kuramagomedov was victorious in the -100kg and Uzbekistan’s Adilijan Tulenbaev  won the 100kg+.

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