Russians return to judo competition at worlds while Ukraine boycotts

Russians returned to international judo competition on Sunday for the first time in nearly a year at the world championships in Qatar as Ukraine boycotted the key Olympic qualifier.

Competing under the name of "Individual Neutral Athletes," the Russians had a slow start in Doha as their first competitor, Sabina Giliazova, lost her opening contest to France's Blandine Pont. Three more Russians are due to compete Monday.

Seventeen judokas from Russia and two from its ally Belarus were listed as competing at the world championships despite several of them having apparent ties with the Russian military. Ukraine removed its team from the event last week in protest.

The International Olympic Committee favours allowing Russians and Belarusians to compete as neutral athletes without national symbols as qualifying ramps up for next year's Paris Olympics. The IOC, which last year recommended excluding Russian competitors on security grounds but now argues that would be discriminatory, has left the final decision to the governing bodies in each sport.

Some sports like track and field have kept an exclusion in place on Russians and Belarusians in international events. Several more Olympic sports have said they are preparing to readmit Russians and Belarusians, but haven't yet done so, some citing a need for extra time to decide on a process or vet athletes. The International Judo Federation has moved comparatively fast.

The IJF allowed a Russian team without national symbols at the first Olympic qualifying event in June 2022 in Mongolia, which Ukraine boycotted, but then backtracked and excluded Russia and Belarus for the rest of 2022. The world championships were the first time that either Russia or Belarus entered a team since