You get one shot. One judo match. Great Britain’s Ashley Mckenzie broke down this weekend after losing his judo match by a single point with 30 seconds to go against Kazakhstan’s Yeldos Smetov. That’s what leads athletes like Mckenzie to curl up against a trash can in the arena. The dream is all over that fast and you’re headed home to figure out the rest of your life.
From iNews:
“Unfortunately with judo you only get one chance,” he told BBC sport, tears running down his face.
“I think it’s just tears of hard work over four years. Putting my family through stuff, my coach Luke, people at the club, it’s just a hard sport.”
“Just thanks for being there really.”
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Side note: How did Mckenzie get into judo?
The fighter has spoken in the past how as a ‘naughty kid’ he only got into judo after fighting with another kid over a Pokemon card.
