12-year-old judo prodigy from Buffalo Grove, Illinois, to represent Team USA for second time

Buffalo Grove, Illinois, native Till Bartkovjaks, 12, is a master of judo — and he's currently getting ready to represent Team USA for the second time, in Mexico in November.

Till has a focus unlike many other 12-year-olds, which has led him to excel in martial arts and combat sports from an early age.

"He started with jiujitsu when he was 4 or 5 years old," said Till's mother, Liya Sagitova. "He practiced that for a few years, and then we kind of realized it wasn't as challenging."

They found Judo — a combat sport that focuses on standing throws which require a combination of strength and technical skill.

"I've been doing judo for around five years maybe," Till said. "I had a lot of hard fights, but I didn't give up, and I won."

Till has already won a lot of medals, and has traveled the world as a top-ranked junior athlete and 12-time USA Judo national champion.

"His work ethic is great and he's very disciplined," said Sagitova. "He never skips practices. He does what his coach tells him to do."

Coach Gela Kelikhashvili opened his European Judo Academy in Wheeling, Illinois, in 2020.

The academy has quickly become a powerhouse program producing several national champions under his leadership, but he noticed something special in Till.

"I have huge experience in judo, and I have never seen your age kid, a 12-year-old kid, with such a great technique" Kelikhashvili said. "When my students are fighting in competition, I'm watching their eyes — like when it gets tough — I see if they want to fight all the way or they want to give up and I see Till has that. He will never give up."

"He's great," Till added of his coach. "He always jokes around with us, and he's really funny, and he always pushes us to train as hard as we can."

Till is currently training to go to Cancun, Mexico, where he will represent Team USA in the Pan American Championships this November.

"He has a huge potential. He still doesn't know what he's capable of. So I'm going to show him that he can be one of the best," said Kelikhashvili, "and the USA [has] never had a male Olympic champion in judo, so that's my dream to do it for the United States."

Listening to his coach will help Till get there, but that isn't the only way the mature 12-year-old gets locked in for a fight.

"I just listen to music before practice, and that's all," he said. "It motivates me, kind of."

What kind of music does he like?

"Funk," Till replied.

And what Till seems to do best is putting his opponents in a funk.