Josh Katz
Joshua Katz (born 29 December 1997) is an Australian Olympic judoka, who competes at −60 kg. He has won 11 Oceania titles and 12 Australian titles as of February 2024. He also won the 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medal and the 2023 Pan American-Oceania Judo Championships silver medal.
Early and personal life
Katz was born on 29 December 1997[2] in Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, Australia, to a Jewish family.[3][4] Katz's mother is former judoka Kerrye Katz, who competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics, when judo was a demonstration event for women, and came in seventh; she also won the 1985 Oceania Judo Championship in U66k and 11 Australian national championships.[5][6] His father Robert was a judoka on the Australian national team and a national judo coach for Australia at both the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics.[7][8][9] His older brother, Nathan Katz, also competed for Australia in judo at the Rio Olympics.[10] The two brothers have been training partners since they were children.[3] His high school was William Clarke College, in Kellyville.[4] Katz studied sports and exercise science and sports management at the University of Canberra and has attended La Trobe University, studying for a Bachelor of Exercise Science.[11][12][13] He also lived in Northmead, New South Wales, and moved to Melbourne in 2022 to train at the newly opened national training centre.[14][15] He is 167 cm (5 ft 6 in) tall and weighs 60 kg (132 lb).[16]
Judo career
Katz's judo club is the Budokan Judo Club, in Castle Hill, New South Wales, and his coach is his brother Nathan Katz.[4][17] He had won 11 Oceania titles and 12 Australian titles as of February 2024.[17] He also won the 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medal and the 2023 Pan American-Oceania Judo Championships silver medal.[17]
Early years; National and Oceania championships
Katz won the 2013 and 2014 Australian junior national judo championships and the 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2022 Australian National Judo Championships.[4] He also won the 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 Junior Oceania Judo Championships.[4] He won the 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 senior Oceania Judo Championships.[4][2] He also was named the 2010 New South Wales Junior Boy of the Year and received the 2010 Hills Shire Times Young Achiever Award.[15]
2016 Rio Olympics
Katz competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the men's 60 kg event at 18 years of age, months after he finished high school.[18] He was eliminated in the second round by Diyorbek Urozboev of Uzbekistan, who went on to win the bronze medal, and came in 17th in the tournament.[16][4][19][20] He was Australia’s youngest-ever male judoka to compete at an Olympic Games, and was also the youngest judoka from any nation at those Games.[11][4][17] He and his brother Nathan became the first brothers to compete in judo for Australia at the same Olympic Games.[4][17] Competing at Rio, Katz suffered torn shoulder ligaments.[21]
2017–23
Katz won the 2017 Canberra Junior ACT Cup.[22] He won the gold medal in the 2018 Perth Oceania Open, won a silver medal in the 2018 Hong Kong Asian Open, and won a bronze medal in the 2018 Malaga Senior European Cup.[22] In 2021, Katz did not make the Australian Olympic team for the Tokyo Olympic Games, because he was injured.[23][24] He then broke his leg in September 2022, and also had shoulder surgery in 2022.[23][25] Competing in judo at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the men's 60 kg in Birmingham, England, in August, he won a bronze medal, after not having competed for six months due to injuries.[4][26] In 2022 he also won the Australian national championship, a bronze medal at the European Open in February in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; a silver medal at the European Open in February in Warsaw, Poland, and a bronze medal at the 2022 Pan American-Oceania Judo Championships in April in Lima, Peru.[4][22] In November 2022, in a competition he suffered elbow ligament and tendon damage, necessitating surgery, and ending his season.[27] Katz had a second shoulder surgery in March 2023.[23][25] In September 2023, competing in the 2023 Pan American-Oceania Judo Championships in Calgary, Canada, he won a silver medal.[22][4]
2024–present; Paris Olympics
In January 2024, Katz suffered a completely ruptured ACL in his knee.[25][23][28] At the April 2024 Pan American and Oceania Championships he returned to competition, and came in fifth.[4][25] On 8 June 2024, winning a silver medal at the 2024 Abidjan African Open in the Ivory Coast, he qualified for the 2024 Olympics.[25][24][22] In July 2024 he competed again in the 2024 Paris Olympics at Men's 60 kg and was defeated in the first round, 1–0.[4][22]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Australian Olympic Committee: Josh Katz". Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Josh Katz". Commonwealth Games Australia. 11 May 2022.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kestenbaum, Sam (12 July 2016). "2 Jewish Brothers Have 'Judo in Their Blood' — and They're Headed to Olympics". The Forward.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 "Josh Katz". olympics.com.au.
- ↑ "Kerrye Katz". Judo Inside.
- ↑ "Kerrye Katz". Olympedia.org.
- ↑ Vongxayasy, Air (5 September 2022). "The Katz family has a long lasting judo history". Judo Inside.
- ↑ "Nathan Katz". Commonwealth Games Australia. 11 May 2022.
- ↑ Desiatnik, Shane (22 June 2017). "Katz brothers' judo journey". The Australian Jewish News.
- ↑ Sibthorpe, Clare (29 July 2016). "Australia's youngest judo Olympian Josh Katz among UC athletes taking on Rio". The Canberra Times.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "UC student and Olympian Josh Katz ready to take on the world". University of Canberra. 20 May 2019.
- ↑ "Josh Katz prepares for green and gold return". La Trobe University. 15 June 2022.
- ↑ Sibthorpe, Clare (28 July 2016). "Australia's youngest judo Olympian Josh Katz among UC athletes taking on Rio". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- ↑ Crowley, Jo (17 February 2023). "Josh Katz: Celebrating Progress". IJF.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Josh Katz" (PDF). Budokan Judo Club.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Josh Katz". Olympedia.org.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 "Judo Star Josh Katz Rocks Into Olympic Contention". Hills to Hawkesbury News.
- ↑ "Josh Katz Olympic Athlete Visit". Terang College. 23 November 2022.
- ↑ "Joshua Katz". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
- ↑ "Men −60 kg – Standings". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
- ↑ O'Kane, Patrick (28 May 2019). "Katz brothers inspire pupils as part of Olympics Unleashed programme". Inside the Games.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 "Josh Katz". International Judo Federation.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 "Josh finds pride through pain in Paris". Olympics.com.au.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Katz out of the bag for judoka's Olympic return". Olympics.com.au.
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 "Experienced Australian Judo team are primed and ready for Paris 2024". Combat Aus. 9 July 2024.
- ↑ "Bronze for the Katz brothers at the Commonwealth Games". J-Wire. 2 August 2022.
- ↑ "International Update – Josh Katz". Budokan Judo Club.
- ↑ "Joshua Katz Paris 2024 Olympic Qualification". Australian Sports Foundation.
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- "#165 Josh Katz – Australian Olympic Judo Fighter," Good Humans with Cooper Chapman, 25 July 2024.
- 1997 births
- Living people
- 21st-century Australian Jews
- Australian male judoka
- Commonwealth Games medallists in judo
- Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Australia
- Jewish Australian sportspeople
- Judoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Judoka at the 2024 Summer Olympics
- Judoka at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
- La Trobe University alumni
- Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
- Olympic judoka for Australia
- Sportsmen from New South Wales
- Sportspeople from Melbourne
- Sportspeople from Sydney
- 21st-century Australian sportsmen