Sami Chouchi


Sami Chouchi is a Belgian retired judoka. He started off his career in the 73 kg weight category, switched in 2017 to the 81 kg weight category where he found his path to an Olympic Games blocked by fellow Belgian Matthias Casse, so in 2023 he switched again to the heavier 90 kg weight category. He won a silver medal in the 81 kg 2018 European Championships and a bronze in the 2022 European Championships and had eight podium places in Grand Slams and Grand Prix with a gold at the 2021 Tbilisi Grand Slam and bronze at the 2021 Tashkent, the 2022 Paris and the 2022 Tel Aviv Grand Slams. He announced his retirement from the sport via social media on 22 May 2025 at the age of 32, citing the pain no longer worth the effort.

Sports career

He was born in Brussels to a family of immigrants from North Africa – his father is Tunisian, his mother is Moroccan. He started judo in Uccle at the La Chênaie club under Alexandre Lespineux. He has been a member of the Belgian national team since 2014 in the lightweight category up to 73 kg. He did not qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Since 2017 he has competed in the upper welterweight category up to 81 kg.