The International Judo Federation (IJF) confirmed 389 competitors from 136 countries will take part at Rio 2016 across the men’s and women’s weight categories.

A host of London 2012 gold medallists will return to defend their Olympic crowns in Rio, including French heavyweight Teddy Riner and Kayla Harrison of the United States.

Included in the list of athletes due to take to the mat in the Brazilian city are two competitors, both of whom are originally from the Democratic Republic of Conngo, who were named as part of the Refugees Olympic Team.

Yolande Bukasa Mabika will participate in the women's under 70 kilograms competition, while Popole Misenga will feature in the men's under 90kg category.

Also included is Syrian judoka Mohamad Kasem, who is set to compete in the men's under 73kg division.

A total of 266 judokas guaranteed their Olympic participation through their ranking, while 100 qualified on the continental quota based on their best results since the start of the qualification period.

They will be joined by 20 athletes who were granted “universality places”.

Japan, France and hosts Brazil have all qualified a full team of seven athletes, while 27 countries will be present at Rio 2016 with a minimum of five athletes.

When asked by insidethegames what he was most looking forward to at Rio 2016 during a Twitter Q+A, IJF President Marius Vizer said: “To deliver a successful judo event, as I mentioned earlier, which should confirm the universality, the power and value of judo.”

Judokas still have three major competitions before Rio 2016, starting with the Budapest Grand Prix, which is due to begin tomorrow and concludes on Sunday (June 26).

The IJF Ulaanbaatar Grand Prix then takes centre stage from July 1 to 3 before the Tyumen Grand Slam takes place from July 16 to 17.