Four British Judoka Ready for 2026 Junior European Championships in Podgorica
September 02, 2026
This week, four British judoka will take to the tatami in Podgorica, Montenegro, as they compete at the 2026 Junior European Championships, with a reigning champion and three rising stars representing Great Britain on one of the biggest stages of the junior calendar.
Irakli Goginashvili (Palavani) leads the British squad in the -73kg category as the defending Junior European Champion after claiming the title in Bratislava in September 2025.
Since then, Goginashvili has continued his rise on the international stage, winning bronze at the 2025 Junior World Championships, finishing fifth on his IJF World Tour debut at the Lima Grand Prix, and enjoying another impressive season in 2026. This year, he has taken gold at the Kaunas Junior European Cup, silver at the La Nucía/Benidorm European Open, and a fifth-place finish at the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam.
Arriving in Podgorica in excellent form, Goginashvili will be aiming to defend his European crown and become Junior European Champion for a second consecutive year.
He will begin his campaign in the Round of 32, where he will face either Yusuf Buluk (TUR) or Tomas Otevrel (CZE) in his opening bout.
Lola Hodson (Dragons Academy) returns to the Junior European Championships in the -52kg category for the second time after narrowly missing out on a medal with a fifth-place finish in 2025.
Hodson has already enjoyed a strong 2026 campaign, winning silver at the Tunis African Open, bronze medals at the Poznan and Kaunas Junior European Cups, and most recently finishing fifth on her Commonwealth Games debut in Glasgow. Having already reached the final block at this event once before, she will be looking to go one step further and secure a place on the podium in Montenegro.
She will face Alicia Marques (FRA) in the Round of 32 in her opening fight.
Kate Chisholm (Judo Sensei London) will make her Junior European Championships debut in the -52kg category following a consistent run of results on the Junior European Cup circuit over the past 14 months.
The 18-year-old has earned her place in Podgorica after competing at seven Junior European Cups, collecting silver in Poznan and bronze in Kaunas, alongside fifth-place finishes in Kaunas and Birmingham and seventh-place results in Móstoles and, most recently, Skopje last month.
In strong form, Chisholm will have the opportunity to test herself against the very best junior judoka in Europe.
She will take on Barbara Twarowska (POL) in the Round of 32 in her opening bout.
Nicole Wood (Bishops Stortford JK) returns for her second Junior European Championships in the -78kg category after making her debut at the event in 2025.
Wood heads to Montenegro with an impressive set of results already this year, including gold at the Riga Senior European Cup, silver medals at the Kaunas and Poznan Junior European Cups, and a fifth-place finish at the Sarajevo Junior European Cup.
With valuable experience from last year’s championships, she will be aiming to build on that performance and challenge for a medal in Podgorica.
Wood will begin her campaign in the Round of 16, where she will face either Zlata Suprunenko (RUS) or Emma Feuillet-Nguimgo (FRA) in her opening bout.
The 2026 Junior European Championships get underway tomorrow, with Lola Hodson and Kate Chisholm the first British judoka in action on Thursday. Irakli Goginashvili follows on Friday, before Nicole Wood rounds off Great Britain’s campaign on Saturday.
We wish the team the very best of luck in Montenegro!
