Olympic, world and four-time European champion Hidayat Heydarov will compete in a new weight category at the Qingdao Grand Prix in China, İdman.Biz reports.
According to the Azerbaijan Judo Federation, the reigning Olympic champion will fight in the men's 81kg division at the IJF World Tour event, which will be held from June 26 to 28 and offers qualification points for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
A total of 17 Azerbaijani judokas - 11 men and six women - will compete across 10 weight categories. The men's team will be led by head coach Richard Trautmann, assisted by Elchin Ismayilov and Robert Krawczyk, while the women's squad will be coached by Amina Abdellatif with Sasha Herkenrat-Wiemar serving as assistant coach.
The three-day tournament will feature 502 judokas (267 men and 235 women) from 58 countries. Azerbaijani IJF "A" category international referee Nazim Umbayev will also officiate at the event.
Heydarov's move to 81kg comes after he was forced to miss the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam earlier this month because he was unable to make the 73kg weight limit. All of his major senior titles, including Olympic, world and European gold medals, have been won in the 73kg category.
Azerbaijan will be without Olympic champion Zelim Kotsoyev (100kg) and Madina Kaisinova (+78kg), both of whom have withdrawn from the tournament due to injuries.
