Josh Katz will never forget the moment he qualified for his second Olympics. Sitting on the steps of an Ivory Coast Football Stadium, his head in his hands, he was overcome by feelings of relief and elation.
The Sydney judoka had just finished second in the 60kg division at the Abidjan African Continental Open securing the Oceania continental quota position for Australia for the Paris Olympics.
The qualification ended an eight-year wait for Josh to return to the Games; a return that at times seemed unlikely.
“There was just so much emotion I had been holding on to for a long time,” Josh says.
“It doesn't make me feel better to express a lot of emotion in my training and preparation.
“The stress and anxiety I was holding on to for so long all came out. You don't get too many of those feelings that are just genuine emotions. It was a nice one.”
At the beginning of 2024, Josh suffered a knee injury that looked likely to derail his quest to return to the Olympics for the first time since Rio.
This came after an injury-plagued 2022 and 2023 that saw him recover from a broken leg and shoulder surgery.
Josh says his focus leading into Paris was to remain injury-free for more than a year.
“Despite the hurdles, I managed to find a way to get there,” he says.
“It gives me confidence that regardless of what the preparation looks like, I'm capable of going in and having one good day.”

Josh created history in Rio as Australia’s youngest ever male judoka Olympian aged 18. He missed qualifying for Tokyo due to injury.
His older brother Nathan qualified alongside him in Rio and also competed in Tokyo. Nathan was his inspiration to qualify for Paris.
“After Tokyo, I spent a few months’ reflecting about what I wanted to do,” he says.
“The scariest thing as an athlete is you have to decide if it's going to be worth it ultimately; there is no guaranteed success.
“Watching Nathan compete I thought ‘I’m not done yet’.”
Josh is joined by Katharina Haecker (63kg) and Aoife Coughlan (70kg) as the three judokas competing in Paris.
Australia has won two medals in Olympic judo: Ted Boronovskis taking bronze in 1964 (opens) and Maria Pekli bronze in Sydney 2000 (57kg).
The men’s 60kg competition takes place at the Areba Champ-de-Mars on 27 July from 6pm (AEST).
This article was originally written for The Australian Olympic Team. You can read the published version here
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