The IJF believe athletes present at the fifth edition of their premier under-18 competition will emerge as star athletes at the two future editions of the Games.

Rio 2016 Olympic champion Khasan Khalmurzaev of Russia is among the athletes to have won gold at the Championships before going on to elite level success.

The event in Chile's capital marks the first time the IJF have visited the South American country.

A total of 428 judokas will compete at the event, which will run until Sunday (August 13).

"For our country and for myself it is very important to have 64 nations competing here at these World Championships," said Aquiles Gomez Guzman, the Chile Judo Federation's President.

"I wish to thank the IJF President Marius Vizer for this opportunity for us and our country."

Competition at the Santiago National Stadium will begin with the girls' under-40 and 44 kilogram competitions, as well as the boys' under-50 and 55kg events.

Belgium's Jente Verstraeten is one of the favourites in the girls' under-40kg competition, following her gold medal success at the European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) in Győr, Hungary.

Fellow EYOF medallists Andrea Stojadinov and Anja Obradovic will lead a strong Serbian challenge when they compete in the girls' under-48kg and under-63kg events.

Georgii Tretiakov and Kazbek Naguchev, both of Russia, will hope to turn their European cadet titles into gold medals at the World Championships.

They will compete in the boys' under-50kg and under-60kg competitions.

Individual events will conclude on Saturday (August 12), before mixed team competition brings the Championships to a close the following day.

Paris and Los Angeles are set to host the future Olympic Games after the American city announced they had agreed to stage the later edition last month.