Well I got into Miami today, Everything is going good pretty good - just thought I would let everyone know that it looks like its going to be a strong event, seems to be a lot of top players who have come over to compete here at the Miami World Cup.
Also some bad news, when I got off the plane today, I checked my phone messages and someone left me a message to call them back for a potential sponsor of some kind, which is awesome RIGHT!! Well BELL is having some "problems" right now with the answering service so they deleted all my saved messages, so now I dont have the persons contact info, or even her name, and bell has no idea if I will be getting that message back.. so if that person is reading this please call me back!!!!!! PLEASE
Thanks
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Well I just finished the Sao Paulo World cup here in Brazil, and it seems my bad luck continues for 2011. Going into the event I felt good, everything seemed to be in line for a great tournament and my weight has been really good so I didn't actually have to cut any weight at all, which is always nice. Anyways I was seeded number one on the draw which just means that I had the highest world ranking of any player who was fighting in this world cup.
At world cup events only the top 8 people are seeded so having seeding is very important with how the new draw system works. In the past with the old rules, if you lose to someone who makes the semi final, you were "pulled" back in to the draw and had a chance for the bronze. But in the past couple of years the IJF has made some extremely dumb rules changes, and one of those is the quarter final rule, all this rule mean is that you have to make the quarter final in order to have a chance to make the podium. So even if you lose to the guy who wins, if its before the quarter final your day is done!!This rule is used for the World championships, Olympics and World cups. But to make things even more confusing the IJF(international Judo Federation) made the Grand Slam events - single round knock out, meaning if you lose your done.. so in order to place you have to make the semi final. No one knows why, that's just how it is..
What really sucks is that NO ATHLETE really like the system, because it's an unfair system. Like I said before if you lose to the guy who wins the tournament - then you dont have a chance to be on the podium - but in reality you could actually be the 2nd best person in the draw but still have no chance to place because you lost before the quarter final or in Grand Slam events the semi final.
Anyways so as I was saying I was seeded number one in this World Cup, but ended up getting a very very tough draw. In the first round, I fought a guy from greece, who I beat by wazari. In the 2nd round however I ran into the 66kg world champion from Mongolia, this fighter is one of the best in any division for judo and he is known for being very tricky. He decided to fight 73kg this past weekend because he has a lot of problems making weight for 66kg so sometimes he fights 73kg(which is my category). This is actually the 2nd time I have fought him. In our first fight I beat him by yuko and ippon but at this event he got the best of me and beat me with a score of 3shidos to 1shido, putting me out of the event because it was one match away from the quarter finals. He ended up making the gold medal final against the real 73kg mongolian - so his team mate. They actually fought but in overtime he lost to the top 73kg Mongolian. The rest of the podium was people who I have beat before. So that kind of sucks.
Judo as most of you know is not based on time so you cant actually know if you were good, great or bad - its all feel. You can fight great and still come away with nothing, judo when you look at it can really be disheartening for someone who puts in the time and effort but is just not winning.
2011 has been tough for me. From injury to injury, to just not getting the job done! whatever the reasons may be, i'm working on it - and hopefully ill get out of it soon. This weekend in miami I am aiming to not only get back on the podium but win. I won this world cup last year in a tough field so hopefully I can repeat and get myself back on track! The goal is to get my world ranking up into the top 8 again for world championships so I can be seeded - so these next 3 world cups will be important, right now i'm 10th. :P
As for everything else well I am planning a Golf Tournament in September, so keep that in mind, were trying to get as many people involved as possible!! If you have any questions please send me an email at nick73kg@hotmail.com - We are looking for Donations, Door prizes, hole sponsors, and of course teams! As everyone knows its not cheap to be competing and travelling this much, so we are making the Golf Tournament a fund raiser to help offset some of the costs.
Some people don't know but the Judo olympic qualifying process is crazy - we have to go all over the world to pick up points towards the Olympic and world ranking, because only the top 22 people in the world can qualify for the olympics - the draw will be made up of the top 22ppl plus about 10 wild cards to different countries that are not represented - so that means only a 32man draw!! the best of the best!!
Other then my judo life, my daughter Emma is growing up to be a little fighter herself, she is a little over 16 months now and doing great! My girlfriend and I also decided to purchase a house just outside of Montreal, we figured it would be better to have a yard and somewhere for our daughter to grow up in and call home. Also it turns out rent in montreal is about how much you would pay to own something on the south shore.. so other then the little commute, it works out pretty good! well I will update you with Miami etc, when i'm there...
Thanks for reading..
At world cup events only the top 8 people are seeded so having seeding is very important with how the new draw system works. In the past with the old rules, if you lose to someone who makes the semi final, you were "pulled" back in to the draw and had a chance for the bronze. But in the past couple of years the IJF has made some extremely dumb rules changes, and one of those is the quarter final rule, all this rule mean is that you have to make the quarter final in order to have a chance to make the podium. So even if you lose to the guy who wins, if its before the quarter final your day is done!!This rule is used for the World championships, Olympics and World cups. But to make things even more confusing the IJF(international Judo Federation) made the Grand Slam events - single round knock out, meaning if you lose your done.. so in order to place you have to make the semi final. No one knows why, that's just how it is..
What really sucks is that NO ATHLETE really like the system, because it's an unfair system. Like I said before if you lose to the guy who wins the tournament - then you dont have a chance to be on the podium - but in reality you could actually be the 2nd best person in the draw but still have no chance to place because you lost before the quarter final or in Grand Slam events the semi final.
Anyways so as I was saying I was seeded number one in this World Cup, but ended up getting a very very tough draw. In the first round, I fought a guy from greece, who I beat by wazari. In the 2nd round however I ran into the 66kg world champion from Mongolia, this fighter is one of the best in any division for judo and he is known for being very tricky. He decided to fight 73kg this past weekend because he has a lot of problems making weight for 66kg so sometimes he fights 73kg(which is my category). This is actually the 2nd time I have fought him. In our first fight I beat him by yuko and ippon but at this event he got the best of me and beat me with a score of 3shidos to 1shido, putting me out of the event because it was one match away from the quarter finals. He ended up making the gold medal final against the real 73kg mongolian - so his team mate. They actually fought but in overtime he lost to the top 73kg Mongolian. The rest of the podium was people who I have beat before. So that kind of sucks.
Judo as most of you know is not based on time so you cant actually know if you were good, great or bad - its all feel. You can fight great and still come away with nothing, judo when you look at it can really be disheartening for someone who puts in the time and effort but is just not winning.
2011 has been tough for me. From injury to injury, to just not getting the job done! whatever the reasons may be, i'm working on it - and hopefully ill get out of it soon. This weekend in miami I am aiming to not only get back on the podium but win. I won this world cup last year in a tough field so hopefully I can repeat and get myself back on track! The goal is to get my world ranking up into the top 8 again for world championships so I can be seeded - so these next 3 world cups will be important, right now i'm 10th. :P
As for everything else well I am planning a Golf Tournament in September, so keep that in mind, were trying to get as many people involved as possible!! If you have any questions please send me an email at nick73kg@hotmail.com - We are looking for Donations, Door prizes, hole sponsors, and of course teams! As everyone knows its not cheap to be competing and travelling this much, so we are making the Golf Tournament a fund raiser to help offset some of the costs.
Some people don't know but the Judo olympic qualifying process is crazy - we have to go all over the world to pick up points towards the Olympic and world ranking, because only the top 22 people in the world can qualify for the olympics - the draw will be made up of the top 22ppl plus about 10 wild cards to different countries that are not represented - so that means only a 32man draw!! the best of the best!!
Other then my judo life, my daughter Emma is growing up to be a little fighter herself, she is a little over 16 months now and doing great! My girlfriend and I also decided to purchase a house just outside of Montreal, we figured it would be better to have a yard and somewhere for our daughter to grow up in and call home. Also it turns out rent in montreal is about how much you would pay to own something on the south shore.. so other then the little commute, it works out pretty good! well I will update you with Miami etc, when i'm there...
Thanks for reading..
Monday, June 20, 2011
2011 - Start of the Olympic push
Hi Everyone,
Now that we are in the final 16months or so before the olympics I will be updating my blog to let you know how things are going on and off the mat.
OK so in January 2011 - I was ranked 7th in the world and got invited to the World Masters, to sum it up for everyone, this tournament is the BEST of the BEST and ONLY the top 16 players in each division are allowed to fight, you also have to be invited to attend this event. This event is somewhat new being its only the 2nd year that it has taken place, but this is also the 2nd time I was invited :P. The first year I was injured and unable to attend.
Leading up to the 2011 World masters, I was feeling on top of my game, having just placed 3rd at the Grand slam in Tokyo I was sure and ready to fight at the world masters. BUT about one week before I was scheduled to fight I injured my rib at training, which hurt me a lot but I decided that it was not that bad and I was still going to take part in the Masters and my european tour - BAD CALL.. First round I had the Uzbekistan player who I had beat in our previous fight, but during the fight I blocked an attack in the first 2min of the fight and heard a pop.. which was my RIB. I actually finished the fight but ended up loosing, I think the adrenelin was pumping and I figured I could still push through, which was also not a good call.
Well to sum it all up - my 6 week tour ended in just 5days. And if anyone has broken a rib before or injured a rib they know how it feels, I couldnt get out of bed without working my way over to the edge of the bed and then rolling over quickly, pushing myself up on to my knees and then on to my feet... On the way home I had to ask an older lady for help to put my bag up into the overhead storage on the plane - I couldnt run, lift weights or do anything.
The night I hurt my rib I was also extreamly sick and the Dr. said that my rib probably pushed against or scratched my liver and it was probably a reaction to that. Was not a very good way to start the year by any means!! My rib injury took about 10weeks to heal!!!
My goal after coming back from my rib injury was to win and focus on the Pan american championships but I was set back yet again only after about two weeks being back on the mat, when I tore my miniscus during training - which I took another 2 weeks off for which left me in in the best shape. However I was still able to take bronze, only loosing to the top Cuban fighter in a very close match, so I was still happy with my result - considering how much time I was off from training.
After the pan american championships my world ranking had dropped to 12th due to the fact that I had not been able to compete and pick up points in Jan.
My plans and goals had now shifted to the next european tour which was in early may starting with the grand prix in Baku, Azerbaijan. Leading up to this event my goal was not only to compete but to win this event, I was starting to feel better, stronger.. and the only thing that was still bugging me was my knee(which I will get to later on) but with a lil tape and some pain I pushed through. 3 weeks before leaving for Baku though I injured my elbow to the point where I could no longer lift weights or even grip during training, so I decided to take some more time off and try to let it heal.
When I got to Azerbaijan I was in horrible shape(by my standards) my cardio was not good but I was somewhat healthy enough to compete or so I thought. It seemed being back in Azerbaijan was bad luck for me because I got killed in my first fight against the Georgian player. After my match I had to really sit down and look at what I needed to do to get myself back into shape both physically and mentally. A lot of people dont realize the amount of stress an amature athlete is under during the olympic qualification period and for Judo we start our qualification 2 years before the games. The stress of not placing at events was starting to get to me.
Seeing the podium and people who I beat win and place at the tournament did not sit well, I was in a slump - thats all I can say.. you can make excusses all you want about why your in the slump, injuries a bad call but you just have to try and work it out. After the training camp in Azerbaijan we went to a European Cup in London england where I started to feel great, back to my old self... In the first round I wasnt feeling 100% but with my first win I started to feel it, in the 2nd round I had the top British player who I beat up and threw within 1min30sec and all of a sudden the clouds around my head started to vanish.. haha - little did I know that in the 3rd round I would make a huge mistake that would end up costing me the match and put me out of the tournament - the clouds were back!! Judo is such a funny sport when you actually sit down and look at it - being the number one seeded player doesnt mean much because any one little mistake and the match is over.
The draw is somewhat similar to a tenis draw, but in tenis normally the best player on that day wins.. in judo you fight like a tiger, feel great.. be killing someone and then bam its over, and your day is done. Thats how my tournament finished. The only good part about the tournament was that my team mates in other divisions were fighting great!!
The next two weeks leading up to the grand slam in Moscow were spent in holland training with the team there. When we got to moscow I felt good, each tournament I felt better and stronger, my confidence was back. After I saw the draw I knew I had a good chance to make the gold medal final, every match up was a good one for me. In my first round I beat a young up and coming Italian kid with a lot of good wins under his belt this year, so I was pleased with my fight against him, which put me into the 2nd round against the German player who I had previously beat. In the match I was fighting good, was up by a shido(penalty) but around 4min into the fight I started to gas - I was running out of steam, and the match was starting to turn - the ref gave me a penalty and the match was tied at the end of regulation - overtime it was.. about half way into the over time period the ref gave me a 2nd penalty giving the match to the german and sending me into the bleachers to watch - The german ended up losing in overtime in the gold medal final of the Moscow Grandslam.
After the tournament I was not mad at my self, just mad that I ran out of steam, my cardio was still not up to par like how it was in Dec. and it cost me the match!
That was the end of the european tour and yet again I was going home empty handed. When I got home I had more stress waiting for me. This year I decided that I would buy a house, and it was now time to do some renovations before I moved in - the only bad part was I only had two weeks home before I had to leave again for the Pan american World cup circut. With the help of my father and a lot of all nighters we finished the upstairs well enough to move in. We finished moving everything into the house the day before I had to leave for Brazil - and I left everything with my girlfriend and daughter to take care of.. the house looked like a pile of S#@$ boxes and stuff just basically thrown everywhere. When I was packing to come here I had no idea where anything was.. to say the least I was a little stressed.
I am now in Brazil and just fought at the Grand Slam Rio - where I took 5th. I had a first round bye and won my next two matches. My cardio is still not where it needs to be!! in the 3rd round (quarter final) I fought the number 2 player in the world from Japan, we have had some battles in the past with both of us beating one another in different world cups. This match however did not go as planned, in the first min of the match the japanese player tried an illegal move which hurt my already injured elbow even more. The refs wanted to Dq him from the tournament but the head ref did not see what happened so the match went on!! Like I said sometime there are bad calls but you have to live with them. I ended up getting pinned in the last minute of the fight and the Japanese player went on to win the event, leaving me with a 5th place finish and some good points towards the olympics. Right now after this event I am ranked 10th in the world and will continue next weekend In another World cup in Brazil.
We are at training camp right now, and because my knee and elbow are bad I am only able to train once a day on the mat, due to the fact that I dont have enough power in my arm.
As for my knee, well I will get an MRI done when I get back from this 5 week tour, and I will prob go in for a scope(surgery) to clean it out and repair what is broken after the world championships in Aug.
Next up like I said is Sao Paulo World cup, then Miami World cup, Venezuala World cup and El salvador World cup.
Sorry for the spelling - this spell check wont work on here.. haha
Now that we are in the final 16months or so before the olympics I will be updating my blog to let you know how things are going on and off the mat.
OK so in January 2011 - I was ranked 7th in the world and got invited to the World Masters, to sum it up for everyone, this tournament is the BEST of the BEST and ONLY the top 16 players in each division are allowed to fight, you also have to be invited to attend this event. This event is somewhat new being its only the 2nd year that it has taken place, but this is also the 2nd time I was invited :P. The first year I was injured and unable to attend.
Leading up to the 2011 World masters, I was feeling on top of my game, having just placed 3rd at the Grand slam in Tokyo I was sure and ready to fight at the world masters. BUT about one week before I was scheduled to fight I injured my rib at training, which hurt me a lot but I decided that it was not that bad and I was still going to take part in the Masters and my european tour - BAD CALL.. First round I had the Uzbekistan player who I had beat in our previous fight, but during the fight I blocked an attack in the first 2min of the fight and heard a pop.. which was my RIB. I actually finished the fight but ended up loosing, I think the adrenelin was pumping and I figured I could still push through, which was also not a good call.
Well to sum it all up - my 6 week tour ended in just 5days. And if anyone has broken a rib before or injured a rib they know how it feels, I couldnt get out of bed without working my way over to the edge of the bed and then rolling over quickly, pushing myself up on to my knees and then on to my feet... On the way home I had to ask an older lady for help to put my bag up into the overhead storage on the plane - I couldnt run, lift weights or do anything.
The night I hurt my rib I was also extreamly sick and the Dr. said that my rib probably pushed against or scratched my liver and it was probably a reaction to that. Was not a very good way to start the year by any means!! My rib injury took about 10weeks to heal!!!
My goal after coming back from my rib injury was to win and focus on the Pan american championships but I was set back yet again only after about two weeks being back on the mat, when I tore my miniscus during training - which I took another 2 weeks off for which left me in in the best shape. However I was still able to take bronze, only loosing to the top Cuban fighter in a very close match, so I was still happy with my result - considering how much time I was off from training.
After the pan american championships my world ranking had dropped to 12th due to the fact that I had not been able to compete and pick up points in Jan.
My plans and goals had now shifted to the next european tour which was in early may starting with the grand prix in Baku, Azerbaijan. Leading up to this event my goal was not only to compete but to win this event, I was starting to feel better, stronger.. and the only thing that was still bugging me was my knee(which I will get to later on) but with a lil tape and some pain I pushed through. 3 weeks before leaving for Baku though I injured my elbow to the point where I could no longer lift weights or even grip during training, so I decided to take some more time off and try to let it heal.
When I got to Azerbaijan I was in horrible shape(by my standards) my cardio was not good but I was somewhat healthy enough to compete or so I thought. It seemed being back in Azerbaijan was bad luck for me because I got killed in my first fight against the Georgian player. After my match I had to really sit down and look at what I needed to do to get myself back into shape both physically and mentally. A lot of people dont realize the amount of stress an amature athlete is under during the olympic qualification period and for Judo we start our qualification 2 years before the games. The stress of not placing at events was starting to get to me.
Seeing the podium and people who I beat win and place at the tournament did not sit well, I was in a slump - thats all I can say.. you can make excusses all you want about why your in the slump, injuries a bad call but you just have to try and work it out. After the training camp in Azerbaijan we went to a European Cup in London england where I started to feel great, back to my old self... In the first round I wasnt feeling 100% but with my first win I started to feel it, in the 2nd round I had the top British player who I beat up and threw within 1min30sec and all of a sudden the clouds around my head started to vanish.. haha - little did I know that in the 3rd round I would make a huge mistake that would end up costing me the match and put me out of the tournament - the clouds were back!! Judo is such a funny sport when you actually sit down and look at it - being the number one seeded player doesnt mean much because any one little mistake and the match is over.
The draw is somewhat similar to a tenis draw, but in tenis normally the best player on that day wins.. in judo you fight like a tiger, feel great.. be killing someone and then bam its over, and your day is done. Thats how my tournament finished. The only good part about the tournament was that my team mates in other divisions were fighting great!!
The next two weeks leading up to the grand slam in Moscow were spent in holland training with the team there. When we got to moscow I felt good, each tournament I felt better and stronger, my confidence was back. After I saw the draw I knew I had a good chance to make the gold medal final, every match up was a good one for me. In my first round I beat a young up and coming Italian kid with a lot of good wins under his belt this year, so I was pleased with my fight against him, which put me into the 2nd round against the German player who I had previously beat. In the match I was fighting good, was up by a shido(penalty) but around 4min into the fight I started to gas - I was running out of steam, and the match was starting to turn - the ref gave me a penalty and the match was tied at the end of regulation - overtime it was.. about half way into the over time period the ref gave me a 2nd penalty giving the match to the german and sending me into the bleachers to watch - The german ended up losing in overtime in the gold medal final of the Moscow Grandslam.
After the tournament I was not mad at my self, just mad that I ran out of steam, my cardio was still not up to par like how it was in Dec. and it cost me the match!
That was the end of the european tour and yet again I was going home empty handed. When I got home I had more stress waiting for me. This year I decided that I would buy a house, and it was now time to do some renovations before I moved in - the only bad part was I only had two weeks home before I had to leave again for the Pan american World cup circut. With the help of my father and a lot of all nighters we finished the upstairs well enough to move in. We finished moving everything into the house the day before I had to leave for Brazil - and I left everything with my girlfriend and daughter to take care of.. the house looked like a pile of S#@$ boxes and stuff just basically thrown everywhere. When I was packing to come here I had no idea where anything was.. to say the least I was a little stressed.
I am now in Brazil and just fought at the Grand Slam Rio - where I took 5th. I had a first round bye and won my next two matches. My cardio is still not where it needs to be!! in the 3rd round (quarter final) I fought the number 2 player in the world from Japan, we have had some battles in the past with both of us beating one another in different world cups. This match however did not go as planned, in the first min of the match the japanese player tried an illegal move which hurt my already injured elbow even more. The refs wanted to Dq him from the tournament but the head ref did not see what happened so the match went on!! Like I said sometime there are bad calls but you have to live with them. I ended up getting pinned in the last minute of the fight and the Japanese player went on to win the event, leaving me with a 5th place finish and some good points towards the olympics. Right now after this event I am ranked 10th in the world and will continue next weekend In another World cup in Brazil.
We are at training camp right now, and because my knee and elbow are bad I am only able to train once a day on the mat, due to the fact that I dont have enough power in my arm.
As for my knee, well I will get an MRI done when I get back from this 5 week tour, and I will prob go in for a scope(surgery) to clean it out and repair what is broken after the world championships in Aug.
Next up like I said is Sao Paulo World cup, then Miami World cup, Venezuala World cup and El salvador World cup.
Sorry for the spelling - this spell check wont work on here.. haha
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Hey Everyone,
So I guess your wondering why I have not been on my blog at all in the last 2 years or more now, well I guess I don't really have an excuse :P, except that I have just been busy with everything. So let me catch everyone up on where I am in my life and how my judo is going.
After my lost at last Olympics I found it very hard to stay focused on judo and it took me awhile to get the confidence back that I needed to start winning again. Actually from the end of Feb 2008 until the same tournament in 2009 I did not win a single match at the 4 world cup events I participated in. I was really struggling with winning on the big stage. A lot of people don't understand how much we as athletes sacrifice and what we put out bodies through day in and day out. Its taxing mentally, emotionally and of course physically. Judo is not like other sports - there is no peak season, rest time or relaxation. The only time we are not training or competing is for one week during Christmas and when we get injured, but then there is the physio, the weights and the massage. And trust me the massage is not as relaxing as it sounds when you have a Russian therapist :P.
For the 2012 Olympics the IJF - international Judo federation changed the qualification system for the Olympics. They wanted only the best of the best at the Olympics plus some wild cards. So I will break it down for you. ONLY the top 22 men in each weight division will qualify, so you have to be ranked in the top 22 in the world just to make it to the Olympics. Now that being said the draw is for 32 people so the IJF will give out 10 wild cards to poor countries who could not afford to go to all the world cups around the world to qualify themselves. So for myself I need to be ranked in the top 22. As of right now I have a world ranking of 8th!.. In order to collect points for the Olympic there are world cups that are all over the world, so we travel and we travel and we travel some more, from Canada to all over Europe and even to Mongolia and back to asia... this year has been crazy because well the Olympic selection start 2010... which also makes judo different from a lot of other sports... Well to sum it all up for you, training is going good, I'm focused on getting results and trying to make my own path to the 2012 Olympics!
So that was how judo is going, now on a personal note - I am a father now. My daughter Emma was born on Feb 25th, 2010 and she is doing great. I call her my good luck charm because since I found out I was going to have a kid my results have just kept getting better and better.
As I write this blog to everyone, I am actually in Azerbaijan getting ready to compete at the World Masters - which is a tournament that only the top 16 players in the world from each division are invited too. This is also a pointable tournament for the Olympics. The draw will be out soon on www.ippon.org if anyone wants to check it out. Well I hope you guys enjoy the blog, please leave some comments so that I know people are actually reading it :P...
So I guess your wondering why I have not been on my blog at all in the last 2 years or more now, well I guess I don't really have an excuse :P, except that I have just been busy with everything. So let me catch everyone up on where I am in my life and how my judo is going.
After my lost at last Olympics I found it very hard to stay focused on judo and it took me awhile to get the confidence back that I needed to start winning again. Actually from the end of Feb 2008 until the same tournament in 2009 I did not win a single match at the 4 world cup events I participated in. I was really struggling with winning on the big stage. A lot of people don't understand how much we as athletes sacrifice and what we put out bodies through day in and day out. Its taxing mentally, emotionally and of course physically. Judo is not like other sports - there is no peak season, rest time or relaxation. The only time we are not training or competing is for one week during Christmas and when we get injured, but then there is the physio, the weights and the massage. And trust me the massage is not as relaxing as it sounds when you have a Russian therapist :P.
For the 2012 Olympics the IJF - international Judo federation changed the qualification system for the Olympics. They wanted only the best of the best at the Olympics plus some wild cards. So I will break it down for you. ONLY the top 22 men in each weight division will qualify, so you have to be ranked in the top 22 in the world just to make it to the Olympics. Now that being said the draw is for 32 people so the IJF will give out 10 wild cards to poor countries who could not afford to go to all the world cups around the world to qualify themselves. So for myself I need to be ranked in the top 22. As of right now I have a world ranking of 8th!.. In order to collect points for the Olympic there are world cups that are all over the world, so we travel and we travel and we travel some more, from Canada to all over Europe and even to Mongolia and back to asia... this year has been crazy because well the Olympic selection start 2010... which also makes judo different from a lot of other sports... Well to sum it all up for you, training is going good, I'm focused on getting results and trying to make my own path to the 2012 Olympics!
So that was how judo is going, now on a personal note - I am a father now. My daughter Emma was born on Feb 25th, 2010 and she is doing great. I call her my good luck charm because since I found out I was going to have a kid my results have just kept getting better and better.
As I write this blog to everyone, I am actually in Azerbaijan getting ready to compete at the World Masters - which is a tournament that only the top 16 players in the world from each division are invited too. This is also a pointable tournament for the Olympics. The draw will be out soon on www.ippon.org if anyone wants to check it out. Well I hope you guys enjoy the blog, please leave some comments so that I know people are actually reading it :P...
Monday, September 22, 2008
Getting Ready for my first comp. after the games.
So just a short post to update people who are checking the site out, I will be back in competition on the 5th of Oct, here in Montreal at the Rendez Vous canada.. which is basically our Canadian open. So far there are a lot of good quality players from around the world entered and it should be a great event.
As for me, my training is getting back to normal. To be honest it took me awhile before I actually felt like training again. I put so much effort into training and getting ready for the games that I was a little burnt out afterwards.
These next two weeks leading up to the Canadian Open I will be going at 100%, im not going to take anytime off before the tournament because for me the goal is to continue training until the world cup in feb.
Well like I said just a short update, off to take my nap. :P...
As for me, my training is getting back to normal. To be honest it took me awhile before I actually felt like training again. I put so much effort into training and getting ready for the games that I was a little burnt out afterwards.
These next two weeks leading up to the Canadian Open I will be going at 100%, im not going to take anytime off before the tournament because for me the goal is to continue training until the world cup in feb.
Well like I said just a short update, off to take my nap. :P...
First week Home – Perth homecoming
The first week back in Canada was great! I relaxed, worked out a bit. I had some time to think about my game plan for the upcoming season – what my goals are etc. But before I got a chance to do all that I actually had to head back to Perth for the Olympians Homecoming – which was the DAY AFTER I got home!! When I first heard about it, I really didn’t think I was going to feel like getting off a plane and then drive home for a homecoming. Well I am so glad that I did, the homecoming was amazing, the afternoon started off with a press conference at cods mill – which had about 4 camera crews, and some local reporters asking all of the Olympians some different questions. If you don’t know the four Olympians they are Silver medalist Ian Miller, Hammer thrower – Sultana, Swimmer
- Mike Brown, and Myself.
After the press conference was done it was down to the mustang convertibles to get our drive around the town. Two of us per car, and we sat on the back of the trunk like the beauty queens lol. We actually waved to everyone as the police escort took us towards the crystal palace. So far so good I thought – we all had no idea about what we were going to see, there must have been 1500 people waiting to greet us home. They were cheering and clapping, was a great feeling to be welcomed home like that! After the cars stopped we worked our way through the greeting crowd and onto the stage to talk to everyone who came to welcome us home. After all of us said a few words it was off to sign autographs, which only took about 2 and1/2 hours lol. None the less it was an awesome event! Which will be even better in 2012 when all of us bring home medals!
- Mike Brown, and Myself.
After the press conference was done it was down to the mustang convertibles to get our drive around the town. Two of us per car, and we sat on the back of the trunk like the beauty queens lol. We actually waved to everyone as the police escort took us towards the crystal palace. So far so good I thought – we all had no idea about what we were going to see, there must have been 1500 people waiting to greet us home. They were cheering and clapping, was a great feeling to be welcomed home like that! After the cars stopped we worked our way through the greeting crowd and onto the stage to talk to everyone who came to welcome us home. After all of us said a few words it was off to sign autographs, which only took about 2 and1/2 hours lol. None the less it was an awesome event! Which will be even better in 2012 when all of us bring home medals!
Friday, September 5, 2008
26th – Home
It was kind of sad day - getting on the bus, heading home - not because I didn’t stand on the podium, I mean I still think about my loss every day I wake up, but I’m not really sad about it anymore. The reason I was kinda sad was because maybe that was the last chance I will get to compete at such a high level. Maybe that was it, my one and only Olympics. As everyone knows nothing is promised in this world, and I am really happy that I got a chance to represent my country at the biggest sporting event worldwide. I will do my best to be here in 4 years, there are a lot of factors such as injury that will play a part in that. But when and if I do make that team for 2012 you can bet I will be going for nothing but Gold. I want to be the first person from Canada to win an Olympic gold in Judo and hopefully will a lot of hard work my dream will come true in 4 years time.
The day was pretty much the same as every travel day for us, we headed to the airport, hung out in the lounge for a bit until our boarding time was up, and then headed for home sweet home. This trip was a long one and I am looking forward to just relaxing a bit, sitting on my couch and watching some NFL football. The season will be starting soon, so I can’t wait!
The day was pretty much the same as every travel day for us, we headed to the airport, hung out in the lounge for a bit until our boarding time was up, and then headed for home sweet home. This trip was a long one and I am looking forward to just relaxing a bit, sitting on my couch and watching some NFL football. The season will be starting soon, so I can’t wait!
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