With a silver and a bronze, judo was a surprise success at the Games for Great Britain.
For most people, the abiding memory of the British judokas’ performances will – rightly – be Gemma Gibbons whispering emotionally to the heavens “I love you, mum” following her semi-final triumph over France’s Audrey Tcheuméo.
But for some reason I was equally touched by Karina Bryant’s bronze medal in the +78kg division the very next day. She, too, had a difficult road to London 2012, suffering a neck injury last year and even being forced to raise money herself simply to be able to drive to training.
And her emotion after she sealed a win over Iryna Kindzerska of Ukraine was obvious. She described the bronze as like a gold to her – in many ways earning silver in a knockout competition like judo is more of a disappointment than bronze, because to do so you will have lost your final match.
But Bryant won hers, in front of a family she barely sees and a rapturous crowd at the ExCeL. It was a second successive day of raw emotion for Great Britain on the mat.
An Early Bath 