IJF President holds talks in North Korea for 2017 Junior World Championships bid

IJF President Mr. Marius Vizer recently visited Pyongyang in North Korea to discuss the bid from the Asian country to host the 2017 Junior World Judo Championships.

Mr. Vizer visited the country following November’s Qingdao Grand Prix to meet with high-ranking government officials such as the Minister of Sport and the National Olympic Committee along with the national judo federation and their hugely-talented team.

The first-class sports facilities clearly demonstrated that North Korea – who celebrated Olympic gold at London 2012 from the famed An Kum Ae and world gold a year later from Sol Kyong - has the capacity to stage a top-level IJF event while the logistics were also discussed such as the visa distribution and flights into the country.

The North Korean government has already sent a letter to the IJF stating that visa’s would be delivered to all the participating nations while there is also a possibility of organising chartered flights from Beijing for all the athletes and officials.

Sol Kyong celebrates winning the Rio 2013 World Championships. The -78kg star will be one of her country's leading medal hopes at Rio 2016.

A final decision will be made during the next IJF Executive Committee meeting just prior to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. If the country’s bid is successful, then judo would be one of the first Olympic sports to stage a World Championships in North Korea.

Mr. Vizer said: "I consider that for the youth of North Korea it is an important event that can inspire and motivate them. This is an open door for friendship and international relations. I believe that it should be one of the missions of high level sports for the society."

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