Azeri trailblazer Rustam Orujov announces farewell to judo

Rustam Orujov of Azerbaijan has officially announced his retirement. The 2016 Rio Olympic Games runner up U73kg also competed at the Tokyo Olympic Games where he finished fifth. At those Olympic Games he carried the flag for his country at the opening ceremony. He lost to the later Olympic Champion Shohei Ono at both Olympic Games.

Orujov became World Championships silver medallist in 2017 in Budapest and 2019 silver medallist in Tokyo.

In 2016 the Azeri fighter was European champion in Kazan and captured a bronze medal in 2017 in Warsaw and silver in 2019 at the European Games in Minsk.

Rustam won many IJF World Cup events including three Grand Slams in Baku (2) and Budapest and Grand Prix events in Baku, Tbilisi, Samsun, Havana and Zagreb. In 2018 he won the gold medal at the IJF Masters.

Orujov who was born in Ust-Ilimsk (RUS) used this special day of 8 August for his announcement with a good reason.

Orujov: “These have been incredible years filled with joy, and I am profoundly grateful that I chose JUDO. However, all journeys have their conclusion. On August 8th, I had the honor of stepping onto the Olympic podium for the last time. I extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported me throughout this journey. Now, it’s time to embark on a new chapter in my life.”

Orujov was World number one ranked in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020 in his category U73kg. Among his most frequent opponents a few big names such as Lasha Shavdatuashvili whom he fought 11 time and defeated even 9 times. He fought Tommy Macias 8 times as well as An Chang-Rim. Also Victor Scvortov and Musa Mogushkov are in the top 5.

The Grand Slam of Tbilisi this year was his last World Tour event and he competed internationally for 14 years.