“Long time, no see!” is how Mikita SVIRYD said greeted us when he returned to competition in the Ljubljana European Open, and a long time it has been. In fact the last time he competed on the international stage was in the European Mixed Teams Championships in 2021. Sviryd is holder of multiple continental championship medals as well as three at Grand Prix level, and now he is ready to continue building on his collection, only now he is representing Croatia.
I was very tired, it was a long day for me and it’s been some years now so I am not so used to it. I have changed federations now though and the Croatian Judo Federation have really helped me and especially my club, AJK “Student”, so now I am finally on the world mat!
Considering the time off the IJF World Tour, it was an impressive return, which was swiftly explained,
I’m training twice a day and I fight in the Spanish League and Bundesliga, I’m doing so much randori and still in the training camps, but I have missed this, three years is a long time to be off the circuit, but I’m really happy I can continue towards my goal. It wasn’t a gold medal in the end, but step by step, I’m going.
In the final, Sviryd offered that it had been a long day and that even staying mentally strong was difficult, but then joked that he really just doesn’t like to fight left.
If I’m fighting right, I can do my thing but against left it is a little more difficult for me. Now that I’ve changed categories, I am in the +100kg now and when I came to the tatami, I see it’s very different and I need more competitions to be ready.
In just a few days we will see Sviryd back in action in the Warsaw European Open, a busy weekend with just shy of 600 competitors, and 29 in the +100kg category. Follow Svyrid’s journey back to the tour at JudoTV.com.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen