Champions are often defined by medals, titles and roaring crowds but sometimes, greatness reveals itself in silence, in service and in moments far from the spotlight. At the European Club Championships – Champions League 2025, held in Serbia, one of the sport’s brightest young stars arrived not as a competitor, nor as a guest of honour but as a volunteer.
Meet Veljko Varničić, 2025 cadet European and World champion, EYOF 2025 gold medallist, armed not with a judogi and a fighting spirit but with cleaning cloths and quiet humility. Seeing him in Belgrade, smiling modestly in his home country, feels almost surreal but he brushes it off with the simplicity of someone wise beyond his years.
What is your role here today? “Today my job is to help whoever needs it. My job is to clean all the tatami when we need, when someone has blood and that’s my job today.” There is no grandeur in his voice, no hint of self-importance. Just a matter-of-fact acceptance.
For a reigning European and World champion to spend the day wiping the mats, many would call it unusual. Veljko calls it normal. Is this part of being a champion? “Yeah, I think the most valuable thing is to stay humble after you reach some goal. So I think that anybody needs to be humble at every moment.”
It is a philosophy that speaks louder than any medal.
Volunteering at such an event isn’t always action-packed. “There is not much job more sitting than work but the atmosphere is electric. Two Serbian clubs, Partizan and Crvena Zvezda [Red Star] are fighting. It’s very nice. There is a lot of public and we wish the best to both clubs.”
Beneath the calm, there is a spark in his eyes. Do you wish you were on the mat? “Yes, a little bit. When I watch the fights.” He laughs. It’s the honest ache of a competitor held back by time. Born in 2008, this was his final cadet year. Watching senior athletes, some young, some seasoned, fuels a fire inside him.
“When I watch this and I see a lot of young guys and older guys, I want just to step on the tatami and fight but I know, with God’s help, in some years I will fight there and I can make the public go crazy. That’s the feeling that I really want to experience.”
It’s not arrogance. It’s aspiration. Clear, honest, unfiltered ambition. Across the arena, some of the sport’s giants take centre stage, including a world champion from France, Joan-Benjamin Gaba, who competes in the same weight category as Veljko.
“Watching him is a big inspiration for me. Watching his fights and learning some of his techniques.”
Veljko represents Radnički Beograd, another proud Belgrade club and though he isn’t competing today, Serbia’s judo spirit surrounds him. He isn’t here for glory. He isn’t here for applause. “I just enjoy fights, that’s it. I’m here to enjoy fights and to help.”
Simple. Sincere. Powerful.
In a world that often celebrates noise, Veljko Varničić reminds us that true champions don’t just fight on the tatami, they live their values off it. He could have walked into the arena as a star. Instead, he walked in as a servant to the sport he loves and perhaps that is what makes him truly exceptional.
Author: Szandra Szogedi