Tahiti

I’m now back in Camberley, what a trip!  My last blog was a few days before I fought…

Tahiti is an amazing place, I had competed at the the same competition there in 2006, and had a good chance to explore the main island and also took a boat trip to one of the neighbouring islands.  That time I won silver in senior 63, bronze in junior 63, and bronze in the junior open.  We stayed in a very basic school dormitory, no hot water, no shower heads, no toilet seats, no windows and lizards on the ceiling.  After the competition there was a training camp, and a trip around the island.  I was young, and having a great time enjoying the wonders of the world.

This time was different.  I flew in three days before, and flew out the day after I fought.  No sightseeing (save one trip to the market down the road).  A world-class hotel, and results meant everything.  The few days before the competition were spent adjusting to the time difference, getting my weight that last bit down, and getting my body ready to fight.  I did a couple of judo sessions (and felt very average, normal before a competition), an explosive weights session, and some running.  I was feeling fit, strong, and ready to fight.  The draw was done on the Friday night, and I was quite pleased to see I had my hardest fight first.  I like it that way, I can focus on my strategy and not be distracted by other opponents.  There were 5 people in my weight, two Australians, two Tahitians, and me.  They placed me in a pool with one Aussie and one Tahitian, with the winner of our pool facing the winner of the other two in the final, and the second place in our pool fighting the loser of the other two for bronze.

On the morning of the competition I woke up nice and early for the weigh in, made weight, then had some nice breakfast.  We went to the venue 90 min before the competition was due to start, and sat in the stands watching the opening ceremony.  Competition was due to start at 10, and at about 9:30 I started warming up with my roommate Darcina (who is originally from Gisborne but now lives in Perth, and is great to train with).  I felt ready to go at about 10, so sat watching the first matches in the stands for a while.  I wasn’t on until (I think) fight 26, which was a few hours later, but I like to warm up early.  The tournament organisers cancelled a few fights so I was on earlier than expected, but luckily I was keeping track myself!

I fought well in my first fight and nearly scored many times, but unfortunately made a little mistake and got throw near the end.  After the fight I noticed a pain in my shoulder, but was called on for my next fight about 5 minutes later and had only just caught my breath, so I went right on.  I had a Tahitian, and quickly threw her for wazari and held her down.  This placed me in the bronze match.  I watched the rest of the fights, and then we went back to the hotel for a couple of hours before the final block.  I made use of the free internet to talk to family and friends in New Zealand and the UK, and refocus on winning the bronze.  My shoulder had started to stiffen up, so I iced it.

When we arrived back at the venue there was more than two hours to wait for my fight, and I enjoyed watching my teammates do well.  When it came time to fight, I felt good and strong, and quickly settled my grips and threw my opponent for ippon.  This got me the bronze medal – not the result I was looking for, but still a medal and valuable Olympic qualification points.

I stayed to watch the rest of the fights, then went back to the hotel to quickly get changed, and went to the food caravans beside the sea for dinner. A large group of New Zealanders sat at a big outside table, but no sooner had we placed our order and it started pouring down, and we got split into two groups, and sat under the tiny awnings of caravans.  It was really raining down, but it was kind of nice in the heat.  Before our food was delivered it stopped again, so we moved our table outside again and wiped it down, and enjoyed massive pizzas.  I was completely exhausted, so went back to the hotel for a relatively early night.

On Sunday the cadet and junior men were fighting, so we went to watch that.  The kiwi girls had a long and unsuccessful walk trying to find an open bakery somewhere around the competition venue before the fights started, then spent the next few hours sitting in the stands cheering on the young lads.  After the medals were given out was the team competition.  I was selected to fight, but my sore shoulder from the day before had become a lot worse, and the kind Australian physio took the time to diagnose a torn pectorial muscle.  I unfortunately thus had to cheer on our team from the sidelines.  Unfortunately both our men and women lost to Australia in the final 3-2, despite some close matches.  I was really proud of how some of our kiwis were fighting.  Before the matches had finished I had to get on a bus with about half of the kiwi team to the airport, for a flight to Auckland, New Zealand.

Tahiti has changed in the past five years, the increase in modern technology made a big difference to our stay.  Lots of easy ATMs means an easier trip!  Staying in a decent hotel also made the trip better.  Good preparation at Camberley meant I fought the best I’ve ever fought, despite not getting the result I wanted.  Many thanks to Lance and enVirtua for making this happen, Luke for coaching support, Ian for the extra training sessions, Robyn for the runs, and to all my family and friends for their support.

Since Tahiti I have spent ten days visiting family in New Zealand, it was great to see everyone again.  I have seen a physio for my pec and it seems I will be out for a few weeks, I’m unsure how long at this stage.  I arrived back at Camberley yesterday, and can’t wait to start training again.

Full results for the OJUs can be found here.