Ethan Nairne chose the perfect day not to look at his competition draw.
The British judoka, competing in the -73kg category, arrived at the 2026 Upper Austria Grand Prix facing what looked like a daunting path, with several rounds bringing another Olympic medallist. Yet Nairne, blissfully unaware of the names awaiting him, cut through the field regardless, defeating one decorated opponent after another.
The 23-year-old from Bristol overcame Brazil’s Daniel Cargnin, Rio 2016 Olympic champion Fabio Basile, and Moldova’s Adil Osmanov, among others, before advancing to the final against Türkiye’s Bilal Ciloglu.
There, two minutes into golden score, Nairne delivered a beautifully timed o-soto to score yuko and secure the Grand Prix title, the first for a British male judoka since 2021 and only the third in history.
It was a result he had not yet achieved, but had always known was possible.
“It’s an incredible feeling to win my first Grand Prix”, he said after his fight. “ It’s been a tough period at times, so to come through that and perform like this means a lot.”
Speaking later to the European Judo Union from the Olympic Training Camp in Nymburk, Nairne admitted the achievement is only now beginning to feel real.
“It is starting to sink in now, and it’s sort of become my reality,” he said. “I’m here at the training camp in Nymburk, so I’m really feeling it because people are fighting me quite tough as well!”
It is a level of focus Nairne has refined over the years, and one that will serve him well as he prepares for the upcoming European Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, from 16-19 April.
Credit: IJF/Gabriela Sabau © Gabriela Sabau IJF
Nairne: “Thief is the comparison of joy”
Since making his international debut in 2018, Nairne has competed in 42 events, reaching the podium seven times, including two gold medals. The numbers tell a story of persistence, and those losses, Nairne explained, proved formative.
They forced him to confront the mental side of competition and, most importantly, to stop measuring his progress against the achievements of others.
“They say comparison is the thief of joy,” he explained. “I would constantly compare myself to other people and question why they were doing something that I wasn’t.”
With competition growing across the -73kg in Great Britain in particular, the successes of his teammates began to weigh on him. “I felt like every time someone else achieved something, it would mess me up a little bit because I had such huge expectations of myself. If someone else had a good result, I felt like it diminished my result.”
“But now I realise there’s enough space for all of us to shine. Now I just try to focus on myself rather than let any of that noise interrupt me. I think for me, my biggest challenge was never anyone else, it was just myself”.
Part of that shift involved simplifying his approach to competition, which involved letting go of what he described as unnecessary pressure. “It would always stress me out if my preparation wasn’t as good as I expected it to be. Now, I’ve got a good balance. When that happens, it drives my standard in training. And when it’s time to travel, I leave it at home and go out and perform.”
That mindset was clearer than ever heading into the 2026 Upper Austria Grand Prix, where one of the things he “left at home” was the habit of overanalysing entry lists and draws.
“Before, I would really look into who was entered in the competition, who I could face. When the draw came out, I would think about all the possibilities. If he beats him, then I could face this person. Before a fight, it’s probably a bit too much mentally.”
“Over many competitions and many failures, I slowly learned to take some things out and add other things in. My mindset for this one was to focus only on myself, not to care about anything or anyone else. It applies to all areas of my life, especially the ones where I really want to be successful.”
Those “other areas” include a new venture away from the tatami. In March, Nairne launched an online coaching business, a move he joked had arrived at the perfect moment for promotion following his Grand Prix breakthrough.
Credit: IJF/Gabriela Sabau © Gabriela Sabau IJF
Next up: the 2026 European Championships
Next on the docket for Nairne is the Tbilisi Grand Slam (20-22 March), where he hopes to build momentum ahead of the 2026 European Championships, which will also take place in the Georgian capital.
In fact, Nairne only realised he had secured his place at the Europeans during his post-fight interview on Golden Score after winning in Upper Austria.
“I didn’t accept that I wasn’t going,” he said. “I always believed that I could go. I believed I could go to Austria and win, but I was actually third in line, so the pressure was really on to perform. Now obviously that result has bumped me up, and I will be going!”
With his place confirmed, Nairne has already set his sights on the next milestone. “That’s another major aim for me, to go there and try to get my first European medal.”
Beyond that, his ambitions stretch even further. Like many athletes in the sport, the ultimate goal remains the Olympic Games.
“Winning the Grand Prix, becoming a world champion, European champion, they’re all things I would love to do,” he said. “But for me, I’m just focused on the Olympics. That’s always been my dream, and that’s what I’m going all in for.”
Judoka
Author: Grace Goulding