The warm-up room is busy, full of greetings and news as well as the athletes and coaches finalising their strategy and warm-up. There is not too much noise but movement is constant. It’s impossible to keep track of anyone, blink and they are gone.

Water bottles and strapping tape, belts and sliders, all normal at any event but this is not any event; it’s a world championships.

14 minutes and 51 seconds to go

Faces have become more concentrated. Checking the contest order one more time, taking a deep and quiet breath, it’s time to be calm for the first competitors, those who will open the tournament. They focus their minds on the huge task ahead.

9 minutes and 58 seconds to go

Athletes for contest one and two are making their way through judogi control while the general hubbub of catching up with international friends has subsided. The warm-up room is only a place of work, doubt and belief.

1 minute and 10 seconds to go

There is nothing more to be said and no more work to be done. The referees are waiting on the tatami. The countdown to the 2025 OTP Bank World Judo Championships is over.