This is a list of achievements in major international judo events according to gold, silver and bronze medal results obtained by athletes representing different nations. The objective is not to create a combined medal table; the focus is on listing the best positions achieved by athletes in major global events, ranking the countries according to the most number of podiums accomplished by athletes of these nations. In order to be considered for the making of the list, the competition must be open to athletes from nations across every continent, with no cultural, geographical, political or other sort of limitation preventing participation of athletes. Invitational-only events were not eligible because they might impose subjective limitations on which athletes are allowed to compete.
For the creation of the list only results from adult competitions were consulted; therefore, results achieved at the Youth Olympic Games and at the World Junior Championships were not considered. Master, Grand Prix and Para meets, such as the Paralympic Games, were not taken into consideration. Results from two major judo world tournaments approved by the International Judo Federation were taken into account: the World Judo Championships and the judo tournament at the Summer Olympic Games.