The Lebanese judo champion who found her fight

Aquilina Chayeb is one of Lebanon's most decorated young judokas. She came to judo reluctantly, a gymnastics and dance girl who wanted nothing to do with martial arts. A decade later, she is chasing Olympic glory from a training hall in Budapest. The Beiruter sat down with the 22-year-old champion to hear her story.

An unlikely beginning

Aquilina's path to the tatami was anything but straightforward. Growing up training in gymnastics at Buddha Club, she was nudged toward judo by the club's head, who also happened to lead the Lebanese Judo Federation.

"I didn't really like anything martial arts related when I was younger," she admits. "I was more of a gymnastics and dance kind of girl." At 12, she gave it a shot and hated it. "It was like hell for me. At 12 you don't really like being around guys much, and judo was only guys."

But then, just three months in and still splitting her time between both sports, she entered the Lebanese Judo Championships. She won. "When you win, you like it," she says simply. That victory changed everything. She spent two more years juggling judo and gymnastics, a Lebanese champion in both, before the pace became unsustainable. Judo won.

 The medals followed. Aquilina has collected multiple Asian medals across the under-18 and under-21 categories, including a bronze at the Asian Under-18 championships, a bronze and silver at the Asian Under-21 championships, and two bronze medals at the European Cup Juniors. The crown jewel so far came in 2025, when she claimed first place at the Asian Open. She has also competed at Grand Prix level, finishing seventh.

Hungary, heartbreak, and the road back

After finishing high school, Aquilina landed a scholarship from the International Judo Federation to train and study in Hungary, a life-changing opportunity that immediately tested everything she had.

Just two months into her new life abroad, barely 18 and still finding her footing in an unfamiliar country, she suffered a complete ACL rupture. Eight months of recovery stretched ahead of her, alone in a foreign city with no close friends yet, unable to train or attend university.

"I think that was my biggest hardship from the past few years," she reflects. "I almost stopped." That she didn't, that she pushed through the isolation and the physical rehabilitation to come back stronger, says everything about the athlete she has become.

Life in Hungary has since settled into a demanding but rewarding rhythm: ten training sessions a week, two per day across five days, split equally between judo and sport-specific gym work. Her university accommodates her schedule, allowing her to focus on exams and coursework without requiring daily attendance. "They really take sports seriously here," she says. The rest of her time goes to the unglamorous realities of living alone, cooking, cleaning, recovering.

"When you're a professional athlete, your personal life is your sport," she says. "I don't really have much of going out and stuff."

Eyes on the olympics

Every competition on Aquilina's calendar now serves a single purpose: accumulating enough ranking points to qualify for the Olympics. Next up is the Lausanne Grand Slam in August, a high-value event where a first-place finish yields 700 points, followed by the Budapest Grand Slam and the World Championships, all arriving in quick succession.

"My first step is getting the points," she says. The destination is a podium at the Games.

Through it all, her parents have been the constant. Her mother flew out to be with her at her most recent competition, the one she won, and was there to receive her daughter's embrace after the final fight. "The situation in Lebanon is not great, as we know," Aquilina says quietly. "My parents have been sponsoring several competitions. They are my biggest support system.”

A message to Lebanese girls

Asked what she would say to a young Lebanese girl dreaming of following in her footsteps, Aquilina tells The Beiruter:

"She can choose whatever path she wants, even if people around her don't think it's the right path. She doesn't have to have anyone by her side. She can make it by herself, as long as she wants it enough. We as Lebanese girls can definitely do it. Even through the hardships, even through everything, we can definitely do it."