Chelsie Giles: Confidence key in chase for Britain’s first-ever Olympic judo gold 

“Remember our past. Go and create our future history,” reads a sign painted onto the walls of Britain’s Olympic dojo, the training ground of the country’s best judo practitioners, which is located within Wolverhampton University.

The past that the athletes who train here every day are reminded of includes 19 Olympic medals since the sport’s introduction to the Games programme at Tokyo 1964.

While that’s quite a haul for a country not traditionally associated with the sport, no athlete from the British Isles has ever won gold.

But someone who will be hoping to change that piece of history is Chelsie Giles - a quiet, unassuming 26-year-old who was the only Brit to medal in the sport at the last Olympic Games.

Fighting your way onto the podium in one of the most competitive categories in judo

Giles’s bronze at Tokyo 2020 is just one of a series of medals that show the impressive trajectory of the athlete’s career, which also include becoming European champion in 2022 and also securing World Championships silver later that year.

All of this has been achieved while fighting in one of the most fiercely competitive weight categories in judo - the -52kg class dominated by Japan’s Abe Uta.

“My favourite judo player to watch would be Abe,” Giles said in an interview with the International Judo Federation. “Her judo technique is amazing and I just love watching her fight.”

It’s a sign of the character of Giles that she compliments Abe so warmly, even while her rival has been the reason behind some of her most challenging defeats.

The Japanese fighter put paid to Giles’s gold medal hopes in Tokyo when she came out on top in their Olympic quarter-final bout. Then history repeated itself in the -52kg final at the Worlds, as Abe won her third title leaving Giles having to settle for silver.

However, as Giles explained in a 2023 interview with IJF, in years gone by she would not have even believed she could compete with the very best judokas in the world. Now she stands toe to toe with the likes of Abe and the results are speaking for themselves.

“A lot of it now is experience. I now believe I can beat all of these people. I used to just give it a try but now I want to fight at my best every time,” she said.

Chelsie Giles: the secret to rising to every occasion

Giles has gained a reputation for performing at her very best when it really matters most, and she puts it down to thriving in the role of the underdog, as well as a natural wariness when fighting against lesser-known competitors.

“I sometimes struggle in fights when I’m expected to do well,” she said. “I do better when I have the best opponents. I’ve got better against left handers, which can be hard to simulate in training but we have found a way round it.

“I’m probably more reserved against lower ranked players as we don’t have such confidence in their abilities and what the risks might be for me. It takes time to get into those fights.”

However, with every competition that she takes part in, and every ounce of experience gained, her confidence and consistency gives her the belief that she can reach any goal she has for herself in the sport.

“I want to stay consistent, continue to be among the best in the weight,” she said. “You can’t always beat everyone but I want to keep knowing that whomever I come across I can beat them with good decisions, correct preparation and confidence. I won’t always do it but it’s important to know that I can.”

Hard work imperative as Chelsie Giles fights for a historic first-ever GB judo gold

Perhaps the acid test for Giles’s development will be the next Olympic Games in Paris, France.

As well as Abe, the Brit is likely to face the likes of France’s Olympic silver medallist Amandine Buchard who will be fighting in front of friends, family and an expectant nation on home soil.

Last year, Giles beat Buchard in the final of the European Championships and the pair make up two parts of a quartet that always seem to be in and around the medals at the major championships, along with the ever-present Abe and Kosovo’s Distria Krasniqi who has moved up in weight after winning -48kg gold at Tokyo 2020.

But when it comes to how she can write her own name in British judo history by finally snagging that elusive Olympic gold, there’s no shortcut or secret in the eyes of the athlete.

Success is just the shining by-product of the hard graft she puts in on the mats of the dojo.

“I think I’m training as hard as I can and we’re getting in as many training camps as possible,” she told the media after winning the 2023 Portugal Grand Prix. “Hopefully we’ll train in Japan this year so hopefully these little things will make that happen.”