Shirine ‘Shishou’ BOUKLI is the nations sweetheart, a huge personality in the French team and of course, Olympic bronze medallist from the recent Paris Olympic Games. The -48kg athlete was back in action under the Bercy lights on day one of the 2025 Paris Grand Slam, delivering a stellar performance, walking away with the silver medal.
It was so nice! I said I wanted to come back at home because it’s special and you have the crowd with you, the atmosphere is very different, they push you. I didn’t have a big objective here, it was just to come back in competition and take the pleasure in competing again with all my family here. It was cool, a nice experience, a difficult day, really really difficult [she laughs] but it pushed me a lot. It wasn’t the gold, but it’s not so bad, I never had the silver before so now I have the whole collection!

This is Boukli’s big comeback after the Olympics and life has become very exciting off the tatami,
So it was different when you take the medal in the Olympic Games, your life changes a little bit, I participated in Paris Fashion Week for example, and you have a lot of people with you. Because the Olympic Games were at home you have this light on you all the time, but now we have had a big light on judo, on women in judo, so I’m happy to have been able to do that. I have lived a big life during these months but it was very interesting, I took some time for myself, found a new passion in jiu jitsu, took time with my club and competed with them at -52kg, it was very cool, there was no stress at all, it was just to restart.
Coming down from the Olympic high is not an easy one, starting fresh in a new cycle and renewing the goals and dreams, but there is no better place to do it than at home in Paris surrounded by familiar faces and a loving audience.
I am taking all the emotions from that, but it is nice to come back here. I just love judo so when I practice, I need it to be fun, and this is what I have searched for during these months. It was so true, some others with experience told me, that after the Olympic Games, after you’ve won that medal, it is hard, prepare yourself. It is such a big moment, then it is finished. You come back to reality and it’s done, so I took time to go on holiday, to be with my family, and when I decided to come back on the mat for randori, we start from scratch.


Before the Games, we spoke to Boukli after her gold medal win in the 2024 Paris Grand Slam and she was ready and raring to go, but of course we asked the question, ‘are you feeling the stress of an Olympics at home?’, at the time she thought it would be a strange feeling, to prepare at home, to not fly away and experience the travel and preparation part, but in the end, she made a strong decision to protect herself.
I really prepared myself before the Olympics, maybe one month beforehand I decided to not do any interviews because the stress, it wasn’t there because the Olympic Games were at home, it was repeating the same thing. Just simple questions like ‘how will you feel?’ the answer is I don’t know, and this was stressful for me so I cut it off. I concentrated on preparation like it was a Grand Slam, European or World Championships. This was something I really needed to manage.
It is always argued that there is no crowd like the Bercy crowd, the French are knowledgeable and passionate and are behind their athletes every step of the way. It is a comfort to the hosts and motivating to the international athletes, so today was a great ‘welcome back’, but how did it compare to her Olympic experience?
The atmosphere, here in this arena it is really good, you have a lot of people but you have space here. In the Olympic Games, the crowd were on top of you, and that’s why the whole day I didn’t look at them. I was watching my feet, the mat, the girl, the coach, but it was so different and it was still a nice experience and I’m so happy to have been there and be a part of the generation that had an Olympic Games at home.

Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen