On day five in Budapest, 23-year-old Szofi will arrive not only as a European champion but as an athlete transformed physically, emotionally and spiritually. There is something profoundly human about the way Szofi tells her story. It’s not one of medals and records but of identity, self-worth and the difficult terrain between burnout and rediscovery.
“I don’t even know where to begin. Maybe I will start with that feeling, when I first realised I didn’t want to be there, not on the tatami, not at that competition. It wasn’t about nerves or fear, it was deeper than that. I just didn’t want to be there, in that space, in that mindset.”
For someone who has stood on the Olympic tatami and holds continental titles, the admission is startling and brave because behind the calibre of her -63 kg career was a growing doubt.
“For years I competed in the -63 kg category. I achieved results, stood on podia and had moments that shaped me. However, the cost of staying there became too high.” The cost, she explains, wasn’t just physical. “The endless cycle of cutting weight, pushing through fatigue and focusing more on numbers than technique, stripped the joy away. It became a kind of silent battle, one I fought not against my opponents but against my own body and honestly, that hurt.”
That battle, invisible to most spectators, quietly consumed her love for the sport. Following the Paris Olympics, she made a pivotal change to move up to the -70 kg category. Still, the transition was more than a strategic decision. It was, in her words, “a journey.”
“My first competition in the new category came after the Olympics, during a time when I was already in a state of emotional and physical recovery. I no longer felt like the girl who stood on the Olympic tatami but I hadn’t yet become the person I wanted to be either.”
That space between two states, one many athletes fear or avoid, became her arena for growth. In training camps, far from the draining rituals of weight-cutting, Szofi began to breathe again. “I remembered why I started judo in the first place; not to hit a weight, not to please others but because I love it, and when I let go of the pressure to make weight, something amazing happened, I started to rediscover myself.”
That rediscovery is visible now in the way she trains, the way she smiles through randori and even in the small freedoms, like drinking water without guilt! “Every moment feels like a gift, like I am back to doing what I love for the right reasons. Of course, when I was at -63 kg, there were beautiful moments. I felt supported and loved, yet, towards the end, the love I had for judo was being drowned out by the stress, by the internal pressure. I think many athletes know this feeling, that point where the thing you love begins to feel like something that’s hurting you.”
Now, having made peace with that period, Szofi is stronger, not just physically, but as a person who understands that success can take many forms. “The hardest part taught me the most; it taught me how to fight, not for medals but for myself.”
That mindset shift came culminated in her stunning run at the 2025 European Championships. “I arrived with no expectations but round after round something clicked. I wasn’t thinking about medals or pressure. I was just happy to be there. I remember standing there thinking, ‘This is fun. I love this!’ And I won. I became European champion.”
It’s that joy, earned through discomfort, change and personal reckoning, that she now carries into the 2025 World Championships Hungary. Competing at home brings both warmth and pressure but a good pressure. “This world championships are next and this time it’s in Hungary, at home, in front of family, friends, a huge crowd. I have always loved having my space before a fight, my quiet, my rhythm. Now, so many people will be there; it’s a lot and I worry it might pull me away from the stillness I need.” But Szofi is learning to navigate that too, with mental preparation, visualisation and above all, self-trust. “I know now that I am not here to fulfil expectations; I’m here to be me, to do judo the way I love it, and I think that’s where real strength comes from. It’s not from pretending to be invincible but from embracing the full picture, doubt, fear, hope.”
As for her goals in Budapest, Szofi offers no predictions, only perspective. “What will happen at the World Championships Hungary? I have no idea and for once I’m okay with that. Because the victory isn’t just the result, it’s being able to walk out there present, free and still in love with the sport I started as a little girl. That in itself is everything.”
Szofi will carry more than just her national colours onto the tatami. In Budapest, she won’t just be fighting for a title, she will be fighting as herself, and that might just be the most powerful version of her yet.