Lyon-based Diao, who reported on the Senior World Championships in the Kazakhstan capital of Astana last month, lost out to IJF representative Patrick Eloumou Boteba in the final as he repeated his second-placed finish achieved on his Veteran World Championships debut last year.

"For me, in my role, I believe that you have to feel what judo is like, you need to practice it and be on the tatami," said Diao, who writes for L'Esprit du Judo magazine.

"My training was very brief, after I returned from Astana, I spent time with my three children and continued my work.

"I received my black belt 20 years ago, and this event is a great example of our sport.

"I have had many nice moments, seeing opponents from last year and meeting new people.

"There are lots of amazing stories around this level and some of the competitors.

"I am very happy to have been here and now I look forward to spending some time with my sister here in Amsterdam."

Special participation medals were awarded to female judoka who were alone in their weight category on the closing day of action.

Although they could not compete at their natural weight and age group, many still fought in combined categories.

Germany’s Gabriele Krueger, Jutta Ludwig and Brigit Braun were all recognised for the effort and commitment they showed to be at the event, as were Great Britain’s Sarah Hopkins and Kay Andrews, Czech Republic’s Vendula Cista, Brazil’s Iraci Maria da Silva and France’s Brigitte le Bruine.

"Everything has been perfect, we are very happy with the competition," said IJF veterans commission director, Andrei Bondor.

"There has been great camaraderie among all the judoka.

"There are many challenges when you have over 1,000 competitors and you're registering up to 400 judoka on a daily basis but the organisation and registration, which was administered by Dutch Judo Federation, was very smooth.

"Many competitors joined together in the same official hotel or around the city as the event is really an international social occasion; a meeting of friends, where everyone can enjoy each other’s company regardless of their language and nationality, there are no barriers."

The next IJF event is the Tashkent Grand Prix in Uzbekistan, where 385 judoka will compete from 59 countries from October 1 to 3.

To watch the latest judo action, click here. 



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