Though Egypt is the first African country to host a world judo championship, it failed to win any medal or organise the event well. Inas Mazhar reports on the twin blow Japan dominated the mat at the World Judo Championship held in Cairo capturing three gold, five silver and three bronze medals. Holland came in second with three gold and three bronze while Cuba came in third with three medals, including two gold. Over 1,000 judokas representing more than 100 countries took part in the four-day event. Israel participated, the first time it enters a sports event in Egypt. Despite diplomatic relations since 1979, Egypt and Israel relations remain cool, especially concerning the Palestinian issue. However, Egypt had to submit to the International Judo Federation regarding the Israeli presence else the championship would have been held elsewhere. Egypt considered itself lucky that none of its players faced any Israeli. The Israeli players and delegation were guarded by special security forces wherever they went. None of the 16 Egyptian judokas was able to claim a medal or even a decent finish. If it makes local observers feel better, all were beaten by the world's top players. The performances also showed the painfully wide gap between Egypt and the rest of the world. So huge was the difference that at times, the Egyptians were not surprised to be beaten in just a few seconds, mostly by ippons. On the other side, the event saw the domination of the Japanese, Koreans, Russians, Dutch and French in both the men's and women's eight disciplines each. But it was the disorganisation which stole the show. The championship began amid organisational chaos. The start was delayed by an hour and journalists had to wait until the finals before being supplied with Internet access which rarely lasted more than a minute or two before crashing. Only the judo itself saved the day, four brilliant finals hiding the shambles. The indoor stadium was described as dirty. It had not been cleaned since the opening ceremony which saw dancers perform on the judo mats wearing shoes even though according to the rules, nobody is allowed to step on the mats with their shoes on. Even referees wear socks. The warm-up area was called a 'filthy garage'. Delegations and officials complained throughout the tournament about the lack of water, food and drink at the venue. People had to bring their own food with them. The judo outfits were submitted to the organisers before the event so the back patches indicating their country, weight categories, names, as well as the sponsors tag, could be sewn on. But some outfits were lost -- the French lost 20 per cent of their equipment -- while others were received at 6am when the weigh-in was scheduled for 7am. Other countries received their judokis covered with black oil and had to be replaced. Journalists and media representatives complained of not being able to do their jobs properly. In the press tribune they arrived to find there were no electrical sockets for their laptops. Information was scarce and there was no press or media manager to go to for help despite the presence, at least on paper, of such figures. Transmission was without graphics. TV pictures were beamed across the world with no information as to who was playing who. Local media was absent from the event as if the championship had nothing to do with Cairo. The international media described it as the worst in the tournament's history. Despite the problems, the organisers proudly declared the championship a resounding success.
