It is very easy to follow the stories of cadet and junior successes landing with a bang on the senior circuit, picking up record-breaking medals as teenagers, sealing their place in the history books with world accolades and IJF World Tour triumphs, but these athletes are only a handful of the huge entry we see so often compete on the international stage.
In the build up to the Prague European Open this weekend, the first European Open since the Olympic Games, we can reflect on the first event of the IJF World Tour in Zagreb, where two of the men from Team Great Britain picked up their first tour medals and will be carrying that momentum through to their performance in Czechia.
Michael FRYER in the -66kg category has picked up medals on the continental circuit, both in cup and open events, however an outstanding performance in Zagreb earned him a silver medal and was a cause for celebration.
I am very happy still and I’d like to do it again! On the day I felt good, I had a good training week going in to it, I wouldn’t say I felt any different to normal, and I think thats usually the case for me. It was just nice to connect on the day!
Of course, few of these athletes are new to the international circuit and have moved in similar circles up until this point, which was certainly the case for Fryer, and gave him a positive feeling on competition day.
I think once I’d seen the entry and especially after the draw, I knew that as long as I was fighting how I felt I was capable of fighting, that I had a chance to maybe come through my pool to the quarter final. I’d fought a few of the boys in my pool before so I knew I could beat them on the day. In the semi final, I had Ruslan PASHAYEV (AZE) [-66kg #1 seed], I’ve lost to him twice before so to get the win over him was nice. I knew I had a chance of maybe getting close to the medals, but to be in the final, I didn’t expect to come all the way through like that!
I definitely felt a little bit of relief that, knowing that I didn’t have to fight for bronze! It’s a nice feeling knowing that you can go out and give it everything, knowing that whatever comes from it you’ve still won a medal. Obviously it would have been nice to stand on top of the podium but just to have made it in the final was a relief for me.
I think it’s a good start to the next cycle and I’d like to see, hopefully, more and more medals in the run up to LA. I’ve had some medals at continental open level but then you’re never sure how well you’ll manage at the next step, but now that I’ve done it, and I know it’s achievable, I should be able to continue that going forward.
Similarly, on day three of the Zagreb Grand Prix, 28 year-old, Rhys THOMPSON in the -100kg category, had a good feeling before the event began.
I’ll be honest, I saw the entry and thought based on performances this year, I knew I was capable of beating quite a few of them, but to make it to the final I was genuinely quite surprised. I think I’ve had some good wins this year but I’ve struggled to string them together for a good performance on the day so I was pretty happy to get it together and win my first IJF world tour medal!
I was actually very fortunate back in June, I was invited to help Shady [ELNAHAS (CAN)] with his preparation for the Olympic Games, so I spent three weeks in Canada, that was great preparation, Shady is a world silver medallist so it was great practice. The team over there is brilliant, Antoine [VALOIS-FORTIER, Canada’s High Performance Director] especially is very welcoming and you can see why their team is at such a high level, and have a strong young team coming through as well, a lot of them fought for the first time in the Grand Prix with us too. It was a great privilege to be invited there, I was also a training partner for Ben FLETCHER [IRL -100kg] back in Tokyo, and to be invited to Canada was such a privilege.
In Zagreb, I felt for the first time, really calm, I think this was the main difference. I’m not sure if it is the occasion or you build it up in your head, these Grand Slams and Grand Prix, they feel so much bigger, maybe it’s the production or the spectacle, in the past I’ve let that get to me. This time I felt really relaxed and knew what I wanted to do when I stepped on the mat.
So, in my head I’ve thought about what a world tour medal would mean, and what it would feel like, that when I found myself at that point I’d be happy, and in the moment of the semi final against Veg, I attacked with kata guruma, I felt I was still driving, he felt he’d stopped it and turned it, so I really wasn’t sure if it was scored or not! I didn’t celebrate or anything, so this moment of getting in to the World Tour final, securing a medal, didn’t go how I expected, we just shook hands. When I walked off I probably looked very ‘demure and mindful’ [he laughs], no I probably looked very relaxed but when we walked round toward to the warm up, it hit me and I did get a little emotional.
I think we have a bit of a history in the UK or in Great Britain, that most of our men tend to do better in the later years, I wasn’t so active as a junior and when I went on to the senior stage, I didn’t compete often as I was self funded and I’ve only been on the programme a couple of years, I was also unfortunate with knee injuries, so it has taken me a long time to get to this point but I can say that now I feel confident enough to be at this level.
Feature Image: Eric Ham
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen