The first encouragement comes from the stands, which are adorned with a thousand colours. The day before, the Paris 2024 Games began, after a grandiose opening ceremony on the Seine, but we are now on the verge of the largest global sporting event and today is the day when judo begins. For eight days, the individual competitions and then the mixed team competition will take place on the two tatami installed on the Champ de Mars.

And the first Olympic champions are... As you will have understood, we have projected ourselves into the future. All this will indeed take place but it will be in exactly 331 days for the Olympic Games and 364 days for the Paralympic Games.

All this is not science fiction because as of today, Wednesday 30th August 2023, the Grand Palais Ephémère is already vibrating and the Olympic spirit floats over the French capital. For two days, the official test event is taking place.

If the public is not yet present, if the cheers of the crowd are still imaginary and if the look and feel of the venue is not the one of the Games, everything else is very real and for the single reason of testing the entire dynamic of the Olympic tournament. To do this, the teams of the IJF, the organising committee and the IOC are therefore meeting in Paris and the next few hours are crucial to determine what works and what needs to be corrected so that in 331 and 364 days respectively, everything goes smoothly.

France's experience organising major events and the human capacities involved in this test event are already guarantees for 2024 success. At the end of the test event, there will be no more doubt and the home stretch before the Games can begin. We are almost there.