One of those is 1984 Olympic gold medallist Yasuhiro Yamashita of Japan, who won gold in the French capital, the 2024 Olympic host, in 1976 and 1979.

Commenting on the upcoming competition, Yamashita said: "The Paris Grand Slam is a flagship event of the World Judo Tour.

"This event, along with the other World Judo Tour tournaments, will advance our sport to new heights towards Tokyo 2020 and then the Torch will be passed to Paris in 2024."

One of the favourites this year will be Tal Flicker of Israel, who will be looking for another Grand Slam title in the men's under-66 kilogram category after winning Grand Slams in Baku and Abu Dhabi last year.

He will, however, face tough competition from Germany's Sebastian Seidl in his quest for gold.

Japan are likely to have a high number of judoka challenging for medals after finishing top of the rankings in Paris last year.

Kokoro Kageura in the men's over-100kg category and Tsukasa Yoshida in the women's under-57kg event are just two of several Japanese athletes hoping to win medals.

The men's under-81kg category could be one of the more open events at the tournament with Olympic champion Khasan Khalmurzaev of Russia not featuring.

Home hopes are likely to rest on Rio 2016 silver medallist Clarisse Agbegnenou, who is competing in the women's under-63kg category.

The athletes from each of the seven categories in the men's and women's events will be divided into four groups with the winner from each advancing to the semi-finals.

More than 400 athletes from 71 countries will be competing at the event in all, which finishes on Sunday (February 11).