With excitement and the will to succeed: German University Judo Championship 2023 in Konstanz

This year Konstanz was the scene of outstanding sporting achievements as top judoka from many German universities met on the judo mat. Nearly 400 athletes came to the German University Judo Championship (DHM) from 3 to 5 November 2023. It is the largest national judo tournament with students from 98 universities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The high level of judo at German universities and the successful combination of studies and sport were impressively demonstrated during the final fights. After intense and gripping bouts, the winners in the different weight classes were finally crowned. IB Hochschule student Franziska Buder also took part in the championship this year.

Ms Buder shares her experiences from this year, in which she "unfortunately only made the middle of the field". "I was unfortunately not entirely physically fit. In September I was ill for a total of three weeks. But the mistakes will be analysed and next year it goes into the next round."

Her nevertheless positive attitude underlines her determination and impresses us greatly. "It was very impressive to be there, and with 10 hours of travel it wasn't exactly around the corner," she reports. "The next day I was in the hall shortly after 8 a.m. I warmed up there for the first time. My weight class wasn't on yet. It took until about 1:30 p.m. for my weight class to start. By then I had warmed up two more times and was always in motion."

After the bouts she was not entirely satisfied with her performance: it "was only enough for the middle of the field" and she added self-critically: "But I have to work on the mistakes. There probably won't be another competition for me this year. My body was clearly battered at the DHM and I will use the time to fully regenerate." We are very impressed by such sporting fighting spirit and are happy to support it.

Overall, participation in the German University Championship was a rich experience for Franziska Buder. Her focus is now on the coming year with her bachelor's defence, the Master in Health Education and hopefully another participation in the DHM, at a location that is hopefully not quite as far away. We wish her every success!