Western Australian judoka Calvin Knoester and Joe McCole have represented Australia on the opening day of the 2026 World Judo Championships Veterans in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Kano Judo Schools teammates took to the mat on Sunday, 20 September, joining more than 1,300 competitors from 65 countries at the five-day International Judo Federation championships.
Both athletes competed in the M1 age category, which is the first men’s veterans division and is open to judoka aged 30–34 in the year of competition. Knoester, aged 30, produced an impressive run in the M1 Men −81 kg division, advancing through the repechage and finishing just one win short of the podium in fifth place. McCole, aged 32, also fought his way into the repechage in the M1 Men −73 kg division, securing seventh place in a strong international field.
Calvin Knoester – M1 Men −81 kg (5th)
Knoester received an opening-round bye before meeting Georgia’s Shota Okropiridze in the quarter-final. The contest went the full four minutes, with Okropiridze’s waza-ari proving the difference and sending Knoester into the repechage.
Facing Bakhrom Inoyatov of Uzbekistan, Knoester responded strongly. He established the advantage with two yuko scores and managed the contest through to the end of the three-minute regulation period to earn his first victory of the day.
That result set up a second repechage contest against France’s Xavier Tede. Knoester again delivered across the full three minutes, scoring waza-ari and keeping Tede scoreless to book his place in the bronze-medal contest.
In the medal bout, Knoester faced Nika Khutsishvili of Georgia. The contest went the distance with Khutsishvili securing ippon inside the first minute of golden score, leaving Knoester with a highly creditable fifth-place finish.
Joe McCole – M1 Men −73 kg (7th)
McCole opened his campaign in the round of 16 against Italy’s Srdan Radic and made an immediate impact. After registering waza-ari, he completed the victory by ippon in just 48 seconds to advance to the quarter-finals.
His next contest brought a challenging match-up with Brazil’s Lucas Godoy. Godoy found the decisive ippon one minute into the contest, moving McCole into the repechage.
There, McCole met Georgia’s Kakha Tsagareli with an opportunity to continue towards the bronze-medal contest. Tsagareli established a two-yuko advantage, while also receiving a shido, and held the lead through the three-minute contest. The result ended McCole’s campaign with a seventh-place finish.
Knoester and McCole’s performances marked a proud day for Kano Judo Schools and the Western Australian judo community, with both athletes recording victories and progressing into the final stages of their respective divisions on the world stage.
The 2026 World Judo Championships Veterans continue in Sarajevo until Thursday, 24 September. Draws, results and competition coverage are available through the official event page on JudoTV.
