Idalis Ortiz leads world and Olympic ranking

October 29, 2019

When only two international competitions remain to close out 2019: the Grand Slam in Osaka and the World Masters in Qingdao, Cuban judoka Idalis Ortiz (+78 kg) appears as the athlete with the most points among all categories (women's and men's) in the world and Olympic ranking governed by the International Federation of this sport.

Our Olympic champion from London 2012 has had an almost perfect season and accumulates 8,560 points on that universal list, ahead of French judoka Clarisse Agbegnenou (63 kg- 8150) and Canadian Christa Deguchi (57 kg- 7985); while no male representative surpasses her either, as the one who accumulates the most points is Spanish judoka Nikoloz Sherazadishvili (90 kg- 7255).

Idalis triumphed this 2019 in the Grand Slams in Paris and Düsseldorf, the Grand Prix in Hohhot, the continental championship of the sport and the Pan American Games, both in Lima, as well as finishing second at the world championship in Tokyo and bronze at the Grand Prix in Budapest. In total she has competed in 28 matches, with only two losses, both against Japanese judokas: Wakaba Tomita in July and Akira Sone in August.

"I set out this year to accumulate victories to secure my qualification for my fourth Olympic Games, but I never thought I would be in this position," commented the eight-time medalist at world competitions, who if she finishes in that spot after her competitions in Osaka and Qingdao would receive special recognition from the governing body of world judo.

"I'm not worried about my rivals. In 2020 we will make a strategy to preserve myself and only compete in those essential tournaments that will allow me to arrive in optimal condition in Tokyo, where I aspire to compete for gold," asserted the native of Artemisa, who has three medals at that level and could become the first Cuban judoka and first from Latin America with two Olympic titles.

For the captain of our women's team, this 2019 result is due to a supreme effort in each training session, while she agrees that her most fierce opponents continue to be Asian athletes, specifically Japanese ones, although her losses have always been due to penalties, as it has been more than five years since she has lost by throws on the tatami against any judoka.

Idalis is Cuba's most reliable asset on the tatamis for the upcoming Olympic Games in the Japanese capital, to which our national teams already have several names in qualifying positions and also aspire to compete in the team event. The ranking will close on May 30, 2020 and only then will it be known who will gain access to the five rings competition.

At this moment, Maylín del Toro (63 kg) and Kaliema Antomachi (78 kg) have their tickets almost secured, as do Iván Silva (90 kg), Magdiel Estrada (73 kg), and Andy Granda (+100 kg), while Osniel Solís (66 kg) is competing for the continental quota, to which Onix Cortés (70 kg) could also be added.