Raphael Schwendinger

Liechtensteiner judoka (born 1998)

Raphael Schwendinger

Schwendinger in 2021

Personal information
Born|  (1998-01-01) 1 January 1998 (age 27)
Occupation| Judoka
Sport
Country| Liechtenstein
Sport| Judo
Weight class| ‍–‍90 kg
Achievements and titles
Olympic Games| R32 (2020)
World Champ.| R64 (2021)
European Champ.| R32 (2019)

Medal record

Men's judo
Representing  Liechtenstein
Games of the Small States of Europe
| 2019 Cetinje | ‍–‍90 kg

Profile at external databases
IJF| 17924
JudoInside.com| 91165
Updated on 2 April 2025

Raphael Schwendinger (born 1 January 1998) is a Liechtensteiner sports administrator and former judoka. He competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. In 2024, he joined the board of the Liechtenstein Olympic Committee.

## Judo career

[edit]

Schwendinger is a member of Judo Club Ruggell in his homeland.[1] He won the gold medal in the ‍–‍90 kg category at the 2019 Games of the Small States in Montenegro.[2] He missed out on competing at the 2020 European Championships in Prague, Czech Republic due to a bout of influenza.[3]

Schwendinger competed at the 2021 European Championships in Lisbon, in April 2021.[4] In May 2021, he spent several weeks training with the Russian judo team and sparred with multiple world and European champion Alexander Mikhaylin.[5]

Schwendinger was selected to compete at the delayed 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan in the men’s ‍–‍90 kg category in July 2021. He became the first representative in judo for Liechtenstein at the Games since Ulrike Kaiser at the 2000 Sydney Games. Competing in Tokyo, he was beaten by Colton Brown of the United States in the opening round, despite what was described as a "dominant start" to the contest.[6][7] He did, however, have the honour of being the flag bearer for his country at the Olympic ceremony.[8]

In 2022, Schwendinger won a silver medal in the ‍–‍90 kg category at the European Championship for small states, held in Luxembourg.[9]

## Post Judo career

[edit]

He announced his intention to retire from competitive sport in March 2023.[10] In May 2024, he joined the board of the Liechtenstein Olympic Committee.[11][12]

## Personal life

[edit]

He studied medicine and during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 he volunteered his time to work in coronavirus diagnostics in Vaduz. [13]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Ruggeller win in round four". Vaterland.li (in German). 2 September 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
2. ^ Kolb, Phillip (16 May 2023). "Three judo medals are realistic". Vaterland.li (in German). Retrieved 1 April 2025.
3. ^ "Raphael Schwendinger misses European Championship". Vaterland.li (in German). 17 November 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
4. ^ Kauffman, Gary (17 April 2021). "Raphael Schwendinger competes at the European Championships". Varerland.li (in German). Retrieved 1 April 2025.
5. ^ "Raphael Schwendinger". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
6. ^ Kaufmann, Greg (1 July 2021). "Raphael Schwendinger has received an invitation card". Vaterland.li (in German). Retrieved 1 April 2025.
7. ^ Kaufmann, Gary (28 July 2021). "Raphael Schwendinger loses in the first round". Vaterland.li (in German). Retrieved 1 April 2025.
8. ^ "Former Olympians travel to Paris as spectators". Vaterland.li (in German). 19 July 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
9. ^ "European Judo Championships of the Small States". eju.net. 6 November 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
10. ^ Kaufmann, Gary (2 March 2023). "Coach and Olympic judoka retire". Vaterland.li (in German). Retrieved 1 April 2025.
11. ^ "Julia Hassler and Raphael Schwendinger join the LOC board". wirtschaftregional.li (in German). 22 May 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
12. ^ "Vorstand des Liechtenstein Olympic Committee". Olympic.li. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
13. ^ "Judoka is deployed in drive-through station". Vaterland.li (in German). 21 April 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2025.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Raphael Schwendinger.

* Raphael Schwendinger at the International Judo Federation
* Raphael Schwendinger at JudoInside.com
* Raphael Schwendinger at AllJudo.net (in French)
* Raphael Schwendinger at Olympics.com
* Raphael Schwendinger at Olympedia
* Raphael Schwendinger at The-Sports.org

*[R32]: Round of 32
*[R64]: Round of 64