Judoka see themselves as a family but the Austrian Borchashvillis, with one or two ‘l’, are a judo family in the literal sense of the word.
Brothers Movli (+100kg) and Magamed (-81kg) are competing at the European Judo Championships Senior Tbilisi 2026, as is their cousin Isssa Naschcho (-90kg). Their older brother Adam is a competitive judoka as well.
However, that’s not all: Older cousins Shamil, Wachid and Kimran Borchashvili (with one l), meanwhile retired, were successful and well-known Austrian judoka as well. Shamil is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist.
The Borchashvil(l)is emigrated once from Chechnya, Russia to Austria. Movli was the youngest in the family at the time. “About 20 years ago, my father signed up my older sister and my older brother in the judo club so that we could integrate ourselves faster,” the 24-year-old explained. Later, also Magamed, now 22, who was already born in Austria, followed.
What was just a means to settle in a new country quickly became more. “As a kid, it is just interesting when you can compete with others, but once you are into it and like it, you don’t stop quickly,” Movli pointed out.
While the older cousins around Shamil Borchashvili live in Upper Austria the “two ll” family branch calls Vienna their home. Nevertheless, they often train together with the National team at the main training centre in Linz. Meanwhile, Shamil, Kimran and Wachid have founded their own club and dedicate themselves to building the next generation of judoka in Austria. Magamed sometimes trains with them, while heavyweight Movli does not have enough sparring partners there.
Nevertheless, the Borchashvili continue to push each other. “It is a big motivation to see the success of my older cousins and of my brothers,” Movli said. “That motivates me to do more. I’ve watched how my whole family grew up training judo,” he added.
“I really like the feeling when we go to training together and push each other,” Magamed said. “Training like this is a lot of fun.”
“Most teammates we just meet at training camps and in practice but this is really family. That is something different,” Movli explained. “We are there for each other, no matter if in training or in our private lives.”
Movli came on Friday morning to the venue to support his younger brother and his cousin. “They are fighting today, so I have to be here and try to support them. Obviously, I would have like to stay in bed, but that was not possible,” he shared with a laugh.
Right now, the focus lies on the sport for the brothers who both joined the Austrian army as sports soldiers. They enjoy competing, travelling to training camps – Magamed’s favourite places are Tokyo, Japan and Valencia, Spain – and their big goal is obviously to take medals and titles and go to the Olympic Games 2028 in Los Angeles together.
Author: Tatjana Flade