For the past six editions, Japan and France have stood like twin pillars atop the mixed team podium, no other country having broken through their dominance. The two powerhouses have faced off in every world final, with Japan winning them all.
Until now.
France, reigning double Olympic champion, arrived in Budapest with gold medals and high expectations. They barely scraped through their opening match, then fell in the quarterfinals to a surging Republic of Korea in a tie-break. Their shot at redemption in the repechage was snuffed out by Brazil, who delivered one of the tournament’s most electric throws courtesy of Rafaela Silva, who launched Marie-Eve Gahie, and France’s title hopes, right out of the contest. It appears that the Olympic champions’ curse, which has haunted these world championships, also extended to the mixed team event.
Japan, meanwhile, kept their usual cool until they ran into Georgia in the semi-final. And that’s when history started echoing. Once again, it came down to Bekauri versus Murao Sanshiro, the Olympic champion versus the world champion, a rematch of the Paris 2024 -90kg final. Just like in Paris, Murao scored first. And just like in Paris, Bekauri came back with a throw that shifted the ground beneath their feet.
With Japan relegated to a bronze medal match and France ultimately finishing seventh, Georgia took centre stage.
In the final, the Republic of Korea secured the first win with a stunning ippon from Seungyeob Lee against Olympic medallist Guram Tushishvili, but Georgia roared back with a commanding win from newly crowned world champion Eteri Liparteliani, who capped off her golden week with another statement victory. Mikheili Bakhbakhashvili and Mariam Tchanturia added powerful performances to bring the team within reach, and it was Bekauri, ever the closer, who stepped up for the final bout and sealed Georgia’s place in history with an emphatic ippon in under a minute.
The Georgians celebrated as if the tatami had been rolled out in Tbilisi itself. A sea of red and white flags filled the crowd, and after the medal ceremony, the entire delegation spilled onto the podium in a joyful display of national pride. They formed a dance circle, twirling their gold medals through golden confetti while chanting gaumarjos, Georgian for “to victory”.
Liparteliani, who made history herself this week as Georgia’s first female world champion, put it even more simply: “I’m so happy because I’m double world champion.”
Georgia’s golden run in Budapest was the culmination of a deliberate transformation. The reigning European champions and 2023 world bronze medallists have spent years building a team that could challenge the sport’s most dominant forces, and now they’ve done just that. With depth on both the men’s and women’s sides, and a new wave of female talent stepping confidently into the spotlight, Georgia’s rise felt inevitable.
The Republic of Korea brought a different kind of magic to their first-ever appearance in a world final and come LA28, you can bet they’ll be in the mix again.
With three years still to go until the next Olympic Games, the power dynamic in judo has been turned on its head, and the mixed team podium is wide open. The race to LA28 is on, and the world is watching.