Iran was the destination for the eighth edition of the Judo Educational Journey initiative, established by the International Judo Federation (IJF) in 2014.

The programme, conducted over 12 days in April, included 12 judo sessions supervised by the worldwide governing body.

Gévrise Émane of France, a three-time world champion, and Hungarian legend Milos Ungvari were among the famous judoka to participate in the programme.

It featured a 5,000 kilometres journey across the country, where participants and organisers took in 10 different cities.

According to the IJF, 2,416 judoka took part in the various activities held as part of the tour.

In each city, in partnership with the local authorities, a mass judo session was organised.

The visit began in Karaj and Islam Shahr, close to the capital city of Tehran, where sessions dedicated to women's practice and supervised by Émane were staged.

The educational tour then went to the historical cities of Isfahan and Shiraz before it visited Mashhad and the smaller towns of Ferdosi, Bojnoord, Esfarayen and Noor on the coast of the Caspian Sea.

The programme concluded with the final session in Tehran on April 26.

"The tour ended in apotheosis in Tehran after visiting many cities, and if the whole team is very tired after twelve intense days, the journey has left, wherever it went, an unforgettable and unimaginable memory for judo in our country," said Derakhshan.

"This programme has been a source of great motivation for all participants and we already have requests from other regions in Iran to organise such a tour."