Tynychbek Abdizhalilov is chasing an unusual double: international judo medals and a business degree
Tynychbek Abdizhalilov's toughest tournament didn't end with a loss. It ended with a phone call he never got. In 2023, the young judoka from Kyrgyzstan qualified for the World Championships — a career milestone by any measure — only to watch the opportunity slip away for lack of funding and a sponsor. Weeks later, he was passed over for the Asian Championships as well. "There were moments I genuinely thought about quitting," he admits. "But that's when I understood how important it is to be strong not just physically, but mentally."
He didn't quit. Instead, Abdizhalilov turned the disappointment into fuel, and the results now fill a growing résumé: a first-place finish at the Sulaiman-Too international tournament in Osh, a runner-up medal at the Mayor's Cup in Bishkek, a bronze at the 2025 Winter Nationals, and a silver medal at the Kyrgyzstan national championships that he still counts among his proudest achievements. One of the wins that shaped him most, he says, wasn't even a gold: a medal at the Lights of Magnitka tournament in Kazakhstan, earned after seven matches in a single day, the first at 8 a.m. and the last just after midnight.
This year, that career took a new turn. Abdizhalilov relocated to the United States to continue competing at a higher level while pursuing a bachelor's degree in Business Administration at Southern California State University, which he began in the spring of 2025. "I wanted to reach a new level and test myself in a different system," he says of the move. "There are more opportunities here for development — in sport and in education."
The adjustment hasn't been simple. A new language, a new culture, and long stretches away from family in Kyrgyzstan have all tested him, he says, as has the sheer depth of competition in American judo. "Many athletes here have a strong base and excellent training conditions, so you have to keep working on yourself constantly." What has surprised him most, though, is the culture around individuality: "How open people are, and how much independence is valued here."
Balancing elite training with a full academic course load leaves little room for anything else. A typical day starts early — training or study in the morning, university classes through the day, another training session in the evening, then recovery before it starts again. "Sometimes after training there's no energy left, but you still have to keep studying," he says. It's a trade-off he chose deliberately: Abdizhalilov wants a career beyond the mat, in business and eventually his own ventures, and he sees the discipline of judo — respect, patience, the refusal to give up — as directly transferable to it.
His ambitions for judo itself haven't dimmed. He wants to keep climbing the competitive ranks and represent Kyrgyzstan on the international stage, and he hopes eventually to coach young athletes and open a judo school of his own. For now, though, the goal is narrower and more immediate: turn the setbacks of the past few years into results, on the mat and in the classroom, one tournament and one semester at a time.
