Golden girl Jemima Yeats-Brown can go all the way to the top in judo

(Article courtesy Tonbridge Courier 19th June 2010)

ASK Jemima Yeats-Brown what she wants to achieve in life and she will give you a simple answer – judo Olympic gold.

Jemima, just 14, is a rare talent. Undeniably brilliant at her chosen sport, she also appears to have the discipline, determination and desire to succeed.

Her rise has been remarkable. She only began playing judo some 18 months ago and is already the GB under 57kg, junior number one (under 17). Next week the Tonbridge star jets off to the European Junior Championships in the Czech Republic, where she has a unique motivation to shine.

"It's the big one," she said. "I want to win a medal. Last year my mum said that if I win a medal I won't have to go back to school – that's what I want. I hope I can do it. I have only ever done one competition with the England squad – I like it that way. No one knows what I'm like and I can surprise a few people."

You see, Jemima lives for judo. If coach Chris Bowles said she's got eight hours of training tomorrow, she'd jump at the chance. So, the school thing isn't one anybody has taken lightly.

The fact is most weekends she is away competing, often in Europe, and she is training at the Tonbridge dojo on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

"Before half-term I missed two and a half weeks at school because of training and competition," the Benenden pupil explained.

"There's a fantastic chance of her going full time," Bowles said. "If she wasn't ready for it or I didn't think there was the education back-up in place it wouldn't happen. But her mum and dad are both teachers. Her mum does maths and her dad does languages. She has got the back-up there.

"This is a child destined for a colourful sporting career. I don't believe in natural talent. I believe talent has to be coached. In all my years I have only ever come across a few in the class of Jemima. She is an amazingly single-minded character who would die trying for you. Even then, she wouldn't complain."

Jemima only got into judo by chance. England's women's rugby team wanted to snap her up and she was a county level gymnast, but her sporting career changed when she met Bowles.

The former Olympian was at Benenden giving one of his classes when he spotted the youngster messing about on some mats.

Impressed by what he saw, he invited her down to his club and she has never looked back. Within three months she was competing for a medal in the national championships – she clearly had an appetite for competition.

"I just like fighting and now I'm allowed to fight," she said. "I'm not that interested in things like boys. I just like judo and want to do more.

"Chris is good. He makes training hard. But he has been there and knows what it takes and knows how hard to train us."

Jemima is in the perfect setting to succeed. Tonbridge Judo Club has become a breeding ground for some of the best judo players in the country. This year her training is reaping its rewards. She not only won the European trials, she came fifth in the European Cup and has taken bronze in the senior women's Northern Ireland Open.

Yes, at the age of 14 she is already competing against people twice her age.

"I prefer fighting older girls because there is no pressure to win," she said.

And she added: "I want to be Olympic champion. Probably 2016, in Rio. Before I did judo I wanted to be in the Olympics doing something."

Bowles certainly thinks it's possible and that she has a very outside chance of appearing in 2012.

"Jemma Howell is the favourite to go to the Olympics in the under 57kg, but she will not want to fight Jemima. In two years' time Jemima will be snapping at her heels. In 2012 she is going to win a medal, but in 2016 she will be taking pieces out of people. She will be a devastating performer and the way the club is going at the moment could not be any better for her."

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