Shamil Borchashvili, Olympic, World and European Championship bronze medallist and five-time Grand Slam silver medallist, has announced his retirement from professional judo and his role as a sports soldier.
“It feels absolutely right, as difficult as this decision was for me. Judo has shaped me for two decades, I could not imagine a better school of life,” said the 30-year-old. Now, Borchashvili intends to focus on school workshops with children and young people, as well as pursuing a degree in industrial engineering in Hamburg. “It is time to devote myself to new tasks. On the one hand, I want to advance my business education, and on the other, I want to inspire children to follow in my footsteps. I was fortunate to have a whole series of mentors; now I want to become one for the next generation.”
President of Judo Austria, Martin Poiger, praised Borchashvili’s career, noting his place among Austria’s greatest judoka: “Since Ludwig Paischer we have not had a male judoka of this calibre. Shamil was always one hundred per cent ready on the day and capable of delivering his very best. He established himself as an absolute world-class athlete within a very short time, in what is arguably the most competitive of all weight classes.”
Borchashvili’s story began 20 years ago, when he arrived in Upper Austria as a nine-year-old refugee from Chechnya with his parents and siblings. His parents encouraged him and his brothers, Kimran and Wachid, to take up a sport in order to learn German and integrate quickly. “Since we were all lively, a martial art was a good idea. We could not have imagined a better school of life than judo. At LZ Multikraft Wels we found a sporting home. Without the club, without judo, I would not be the Shamil Borchashvili I am today, with both my sporting achievements and an engineering qualification to my name.”
Initially, judo was simply a pastime. “It took me quite a while to realise that I could make the sport my profession,” Borchashvili admitted. “The former Judo Austria youth coach Ernst Hofer was probably the coach who influenced me the most. It is a pity he did not live to see my last successes, including bronze at the European Championships in Zagreb. He always pushed me to develop further and to put in the extra kilometres. He instilled in me the self-belief I needed to succeed at world level.”
Borchashvili’s international competitive career lasted exactly 2,909 days, seven years and eleven months, after he made his debut at nearly 23 years old. Representing Austria as a sports soldier was, in his words, “a great privilege.”
His record is impressive: across 48 international tournaments, he achieved 21 top-seven finishes, including 13 podiums. The highlights include Olympic bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Games, World Championship bronze in Tashkent 2022 and European Championship bronze in Zagreb 2024. He also won five Grand Slam silver medals and contributed to Austria’s mixed team bronze at the 2019 European Games in Minsk. In 2021, he celebrated the national team championship title with LZ Multikraft Wels.
“I would describe myself as a great analyst that was my biggest strength. I studied my opponents in detail with my brother Wachid and my coaches. My fights often went into golden score because I preferred not to take unnecessary risks,” explained Borchashvili. “It was also special that I focused on one major event each year the Olympics, the Worlds or the Europeans. Everything else was simply preparation for those.”
Injuries only troubled him towards the end of his career, with a broken metacarpal in 2023 and elbow surgery in 2024. “Otherwise, I remained largely unscathed, which helped me to stay successful for nearly eight years.” The decision to retire matured when his younger brother Wachid qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics. “That was when I began to step out of the judo bubble and gradually enjoy a different perspective,” he reflected.
Although retiring from competition, Borchashvili will remain active in the sport as chairman of the Borchashvili Combat Center. “I will still be seen on the tatami but my priority now is to bring children and young people into judo and sport more generally. My message is: everyone can achieve great things, you just have to believe in it.”
In parallel, he is developing a lecture concept with a cultural scientist, designed to transfer judo’s philosophy of success into the corporate world. “In a few years, I want to be a successful entrepreneur. As I have said, I could not have imagined a better school of life than judo.”
Source: Judo Austria
Author: EJU Media