The Special Olympics Judo Open Sarajevo 2026 took place on 25 and 26 September with 113 participants from 18 nations, competing across all five Special Olympics ability levels. The International Judo Federation reported the figure after the first day of competition.

Sarajevo hosts the kata and veterans world championships and, from 25 September, the Special Olympics judo open. (video, FTV / YouTube) Open on YouTube

The shiai competition was held on 25 September. The federation framed the day around participation rather than a conventional medal table, and every participant received a medal. Its report described a competition where the results told part of the story but did not define the day, and where athletes from a wide spread of nations and ability levels met each other on the same tatami.

The kata programme followed on 26 September, during the first day of the World Judo Championships Kata Sarajevo 2026. Eight Special Olympics pairs stepped onto the tatami to perform their kata, with four categories represented. Two of those were unified categories, in which the tori is always a Special Olympics athlete and the uke is a coach, who is allowed to offer a defined level of support during the performance.

The event is organised by Special Olympics Europe Eurasia and Special Olympics Bosnia and Herzegovina in partnership with the International Judo Federation, and forms part of the wider World Judo Championships Veterans and Kata programme in Sarajevo. The IJF describes it as the first international Special Olympics judo event developed with the federation to include all five levels and to be integrated into an IJF world-level championship programme.

It follows a memorandum of understanding signed in 2025 by Special Olympics International and the IJF, confirming their shared aim of expanding opportunities for judoka with intellectual disabilities.

Sven Albrecht, President and Managing Director of Special Olympics Europe Eurasia, said Sarajevo would demonstrate the commitment to high-quality opportunities for athletes of all abilities. IJF President Marius Vizer said the federation was glad to take part in that path, and that inclusion, fairness and the connection between people are the foundations of judo.

The Sarajevo Open extends a step taken earlier this year, when judoka with cognitive disabilities competed inside an IJF grand slam for the first time at the Ecole Mont-Olivet Adapted Judo Grand Slam Lausanne 2026. The IJF links the two events: Lausanne showed that inclusion can work inside a grand slam, and Sarajevo brings a Special Olympics competition into a world championships setting.

The championships it sits inside have since closed. The World Veterans Championships finished on 24 September after five days, and the World Kata Championships ran on 26 and 27 September.

Sources