Belarusian judoka left Belarus four years ago and didn't get lost in the new country

The 30-year-old athlete competes in the heavyweight category over 100 kg. Before moving, he was a multiple champion of Belarus. In 2016, Sviryd won bronze at the European Junior Championship in Malaga, Spain, and silver at the European U23 Championship in Tel Aviv. In 2017, he took another silver in Podgorica, and in 2019 — bronze at the Grand Prix tournament in Tashkent.

At the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, he represented Belarus, but suffered an injury there, breaking his arm. His father, Leanid Sviryd, was previously the head coach of the Belarusian national judo team.

After the start of the full-scale Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2022, the Sviryd family — father, mother, and Mikita — moved to Croatia and settled in Split. One of the reasons for leaving was disagreement with the Belarusian authorities' support for Russian aggression, but conflicts around the positions of the father and son in Belarusian judo might also have influenced the decision.

In April 2022, the Council of the Croatian Olympic Committee supported granting Mikita Sviryd Croatian citizenship, but he was not immediately allowed to compete for the new country.

The Belarusian Judo Federation did not want to issue him the necessary documents for the transfer without compensation. According to Sviryd himself, the amount of this compensation was comparable to compensations for transfers of famous footballers — he even compared it to the sum that might be demanded for one of the leaders of the Croatian national team, Ivan Perišić.

Therefore, the athlete remained in Split, continued to train, and waited for the opportunity to compete for Croatia. As a result, only from the autumn of 2024 did he gain the right to participate in international competitions under the Croatian flag. For almost two and a half years, he did not compete in official tournaments of the International Judo Federation.

Sviryd represents the Split club Student, where his father also now works. He began competing for Croatia in 2025 and has already managed to win several medals.

Among them are silver at the European Open tournament in Paris, silver in Ljubljana, bronze at the Grand Slam tournament in Tashkent, and a recent silver at a similar tournament in Lima, Peru. Mikita Sviryd also became the Croatian champion in his weight category. Weighing around 135 kg, he stands out for his good physical preparation and endurance.

Currently, Sviryd ranks 27th in the world ranking in the over 100 kg category. Croatian journalists believe that with further progress, he could contend for participation in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.

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