European Judo Championships: Natalie Powell back in action after Tokyo disappointment

Natalie PowellGetty Images

Natalie Powell lost her first fight at the Tokyo Olympics and is looking to bounce back at the European Championships

By Ffion Wynne
BBC Sport Wales

Olympian and Commonwealth Games champion Natalie Powell says she is taking things 'step by step' on her return to judo after the Tokyo Games.

Powell lost her first fight in Japan last summer and admits having a difficult time afterwards.

She says she was not sure whether she wanted to compete again or retire.

But now the 31-year-old from Builth Wells is ready to compete again at the European Championships that start in Sofia, Bulgaria, on April 29.

Powell is competing in the -78kg category at the Championships.

"At the end of last year I wasn't in a great place. I was pretty down in the dumps and really uncertain about what my future held and in which direction my future was heading," said Powell.

"Was I going to retire or was I going to give it another shot? But for a long time I just didn't want to get back on the mat or do any sort of training or push myself."

Powell admits that the year-long delay to the Games due to Covid-19 took its toll on her performance both mentally and physically.

However, after a break and some time to reflect upon the disappointment of the Olympics, Powell is finally in a place where she feels ready to compete and, significantly, enjoying her judo again.

"It was a five-year Olympic cycle instead of four and I think I was just drained, I was just burnt out in the end.

"I just needed a few months after the Games to de-stress, get my head round things and sort myself out. It was tough but I'm in a much better place now and ready for Europeans."

The prospect of another Commonwealth Games bow is also an ambition for Powell - who remains the reigning champion from Glasgow 2014 after the event was left out of the programme for the Games in the Gold Coast four years later.

"I'm really getting excited now. It was all about the Olympics for so long and then after that, the Commonwealths weren't really on my agenda.

"But I'm glad I stayed around, I'm really looking forward to it. The icing on the cake is being able to have fans back and have my family there."

Welshman Varey excited for European debut

Gregg Varey is another Welsh judoka targeting the Commonwealth Games, but not before making his debut at the European Championships at the age of 33.

Varey has been selected for the -66kg category, and credits a change in his perspective on life for finding success perhaps later than most others.

"My life is different now. Judo used to be the be-all-and-end-all for me whereas now, I have got my daughter and a loving family, my perspective on things changed," said Varey.

"I'm more relaxed, and I do it because I enjoy it and not because I have to. That's made a massive difference - it's taken the stress away and I can just enjoy judo again like when I was a kid."

Varey is also relishing his 'underdog' status in the Championships as a debutant.

"I know that when the seeding comes out I'll be lower in that, but it's my opportunity to upset people and make a statement."

Varey's wife, Amanda, represented Wales in netball at the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast in 2018, and now he is looking forward to the prospect of competing himself in Birmingham later this year.

"This [the European Championships] is my chance to leave a statement, and I think that after the Commonwealths that'll probably be it for me anyway. So that would be a great opportunity to go out on a real high.

"I've got a couple of months now to give it everything I have and leave nothing left, I want to leave it all out on the mat."

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