OLYMPICS

JUDO

By BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

 

TRARALGON’S Aoife Coughlan is prepared for the Paris Olympic Games to be the apex of her judo career.

The 29-year old takes to the mat on July 31 after a strong two-year period fighting to requalify following a disappointing result, in her eyes, during her debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games (held in 2021 due to the pandemic) finishing in the Round of 16.

Coughlan told the Express she’s ready to redeem herself and take a leap forward.

“It’s been a lot of hard work and I’m looking forward to continuing to improve and just (show) what I can do in Paris, especially after I didn’t perform as well as I wanted to in Tokyo,” she said.

“(I got) a second chance, not everyone gets one, but I’ve earnt my second chance and I’m ready to show what I can do.”

Coughlan qualified for the Australian Olympic team in the 70-kilogram women’s division, and in the time since the last Games she won a gold medal at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. She also finished seventh in the 2021 World Championships, won five Continental Championships, and competed in 24 Grand Slams (one silver medal, three bronze).

The formatting for the Olympic competition takes place across eight days (July 27 to August 3) with a men’s and women’s weight category occurring on each day in a single-elimination bracket, knock-out draw.

The preliminary rounds for Coughlan’s weight division takes place from 6pm (AEST) on July 31, with the championship rounds following six hours later at 12am on August 1.

For the last month, Coughlan has been training across Europe in Spain, Denmark and Hungary with fellow Australian judoka team members Katharine Haecker and Joshua Katz, before they all headed to France into the Olympic Village last Saturday.

Coughlan said it was good to get to Paris beforehand to decompress after some intense preparation.

“We are all pretty excited to get in and to get settled. It’s all come up very quickly,” she said.

Australia hasn’t secured an Olympic medal in judo since Maria Pekli won bronze in 2000 at the Sydney Games, but the Latrobe Valley homegrown believes she has what it takes to go the distance.

“With my performances, I know I’m capable of a medal, I just have to make sure I’m switched-on on the day… I just have to make sure I perform well and do myself justice because there’s definitely been a lot of hard work,” Coughlan said.

“As long as I do myself justice, I won’t really mind where I end up, I just have to perform the way I can.

“To be the next person to win that medal or even if we get a couple of medals at the Games, which we’re more than capable of with the performances that Australia has gotten in the past couple of years, it would be incredible (and) it would also be the highlight of my judo career.”

Coughlan has judo in her veins, with her parents meeting at a university judo club in their home country of Ireland before moving to Australia and Traralgon where they discovered the Traralgon Judo Club.

“(They) got involved and encouraged all us kids to get involved when (we) were old enough, and pretty much none of us have looked back,” Coughlan said.

Coughlan’s siblings have all performed internationally and at the highest level as well, with her brother, Eoin who competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics and her younger sister, Maeve, who qualified for the 2022 Commonwealth Games (missed due to injury).

Coughlan said her parents have been instrumental in her judo career.

“They’re still hugely involved, they understand the sport and they support me 100 per cent without pressuring me (and) I can’t thank them enough for loving judo and letting me love judo as well,” she said.

Coughlan began her journey at the age of five at the Traralgon Judo Club and Yinnar & District Judo Club, participating in her first official judo competition when she was 14-years-old before venturing out of the local area to develop herself further.

Coughlan said that both her junior clubs were integral in her early years honing the sport.

“They gave me a base in Judo, taught me to love the sport, to respect the sport and really put some good foundations into my judo,” she said.

At age 16, she made the drive up to Melbourne to be taught by former four-time Olympian and UFC fighter, Daniel Kelly (also the Judo coach for the Australian team at the Rio 2016 Games and Tokyo 2020 Games) at the Resilience Training Centre.

Coughlan spoke on the commitment one has to make to ensure they reach their potential, if it is indeed what they seek.

“It was a lot of travel and obviously being from the country if you want to be a full-time athlete you have to accept that there’s going to be a lot of travel,” she said.

“My parents were fantastic in facilitating that and supporting that, so it was hard work but if you want to do it, you have to get in that car and you have to travel a little bit.

“I’m really grateful for my starter clubs and obviously working with Daniel has pushed me over the edge to get me to where I am now.”