Shishkina emerged herself in the international scene at the 2001 World Judo Championships in Munich, Germany, where she scored a seventh-place finish for the Russian squad in the 48-kg division. In 2002, Shishkina had decided to transfer her allegiance to Kazakhstan, and then competed for her naturalized squad at the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, where she placed fifth in the same division, losing the bronze medal match to North Korea's Ri Kyong-ok by an ippon.