News Japan confirmed their superiority on the mats while Brazil confirmed its passion for judo in the stands as the Rio 2016 test event for the sport came to an end on Wednesday (9 March) The country that created the sport won three of the four gold medals up for the grabs at the Aquece Rio International Judo Tournament in Barra Olympic Park, while the host nation of this year's Olympic sport gave a taste of the lively atmosphere that can be expected druing the Olympic Games in August Although the event at Carioca Arena 1 was not open to the general public, invited guests including a large number of school children and university students created an impressive atmosphere on Wednesday, when a crowd of about 700 people were in attendance Become a judo expert with our interactive infographicRodrigo Garcia, Rio 2016’s sport director, confirmed that tickets for judo at the Olympic Games has sold out in Brazil, although some remained for overseas fans “Judo is a really popular sport in Brazil so excitement is high and the public are keen to see more It is sold out, which is really amazing “Judo will probably be among the top five sports in Rio this summer”Rodrigo Garcia, Rio 2016’s sport directorThe fans lapped up the action and created a lively atmosphere at Carioca Arena 1 (Photos: Rio 2016/Daniel Ramanho/Alex Ferro)The International Judo Federation (IJF) delegation were pleased with what they saw over the two-day event “It was really an excellent event,” said Vladimir Barta, the IJF’s head sports director “We can say that we have tested everything, even the public, which was really amazing We have a nice venue and the domestic staff are really good ”Larisa Kiss, IJF presidential office director, also praised “the amazing atmosphere that prevailed throughout” while Kit McConnell, the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) sports director, added: “We can feel the Games, we can feel the energy and the excitement ”Brazil has plenty of experience in hosting major international judo events, from Grand Slams and the Pan-American Games to the world championships, but the test event naturally identified a few areas that still require adjustments ahead of the Games Rio 2016 judo manager Kenji Saito said that tweaking the competition schedule to ensure coordination with broadcasters and fine tuning the results system were the main aims “Judo is a great sport and one of the top ones in Brazil It has brought a lot of world and Olympic medals to our country”Rio 2016 President Carlos NuzmanJapan won both gold medals on day one (8 March), with Chishima Maeda beating Brazil’s Jessica Pereira in the women’s -52kg final, while Great Britain’s Chelsie Giles and Brazil’s Raquel Silva took bronze The men’s -66kg gold was won by Joshiro Maruyama with Brazilian Lucas Godoy taking silver, while Great Britain’s Ashley McKenzie and home fighter Diego dos Santos shared bronze Bad boy of British judo Ashley McKenzie in town for test eventAshley McKenzie (right) took bronze despite fighting in a heavier weight category than normal (Photo: Rio 2016/DanielRamalho)Brazil managed to break Japanese dominance on Wednesday as Eduardo Santos beat Toshimasa Ogata in the men’s -81kg final, with host nation judokas Igor Pereira and Edu Ramos taking bronze Japan did however win the women’s -63kg event through Kaho Yonezawa, who beat Great Britain’s Bekky Livesey in the final, with Brazilians  Jéssica Santos and Érika Ferreira taking bronze In all, the test event featured 99 judokas from eight countries – Brazil, Great Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Hungary, Lebanon and Papua New Guinea – with the majority being young athletes more focused on the Tokyo 2020 Games than Rio 2016 There were also exhibition fights featuring visually impaired athletes, allowing Games organsiers to test some operations for the Paralympic Games  Brazil showed its strength in judo, taking nine out of 16 medals, including one gold, at the test event (Photo: Rio 2016/DanielRamalho)The Olympic judo tournament will be staged Carioca Arena 2 between 6 and 12 of August The majority of the 386 places will be based on the world rankings on 30 May, according to the IJF’s Olympic qualification system