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Vladimir Putin, President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga and Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe attended the finals of a judo tournament in Vladivostok.

The International Jigoro Kano Judo Tournament for young people under 18 has been held since 2017 under the patronage of Vladimir Putin and Shinzo Abe as part of the sports programme of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF).

The competitions, named after the founder of judo, are held under the auspices of the International Judo Federation with a view to consolidating friendly relations between the peoples of the countries taking part in the EEF.

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Speech at the awards ceremony

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: I would like to begin by thanking Mr Yasuhiro Yamashita for the very idea to hold an annual tournament here in Vladivostok. I think we are doing well and this tournament is becoming a tradition.

I would like to thank the International Judo Federation and Mr Vizer for their support. This is yet another venue for the development of our favourite sport.

I would also like to thank my colleagues – the President of Mongolia and the Prime Minister of Japan for their support and for being with us today.

Of course, I would like to thank the organisers – the Russian Judo Federation and my friends from this federation, who are spending much time and effort on the development of this sport.

And, of course, I would like to congratulate the participants, all of them. This year five teams took part in the tournament. I would like to say that they demonstrated very good technical skills, good judo. They showed very good technical skills and a youthful exuberance that is typical of sport in general and wrestling in particular, as well as the will to win. What we have seen today is certainly worthy of the name of judo founder Jigoro Kano. Our tournament bears his name.

This is a good start, a good beginning for any athlete: to show their worth, to make a name for themselves and display their potential. I am sure we will see many of the young men and women here today at international competitions and tournaments.

We all wish you success. Thank you very much.