SerpApi.Org
Tonbridge judoka Jemima Yeats Brown is ready for her third tilt at Commonwealth gold in Glasgow – which makes a change from the whirlwind experience of her first appearance at the Games in the same city.
In July 2014, shortly after she had turned 19, Yeats Brown – still in the junior judo ranks – received a very late call to the Team England squad.
The only problem... she was on holiday with family.
"I was at Center Parcs," she told BBC Radio Kent. "There was an injury in the team and they called me up two days before [the Games] and said 'Do you want to compete?'
"I remember very clearly needing to find a judo kit because I didn't have one. In the end I borrowed another one of the competitor's judo kits."
Yeats Brown's entry was so late it came just two hours before the registration deadline – but it did not stop her from winning a superb bronze medal in the under-63kg division.
"I didn't even get a chance to feel nervous," she said, recalling her first visit to Glasgow.
"Once I was on the mat, that's where I feel comfortable. Finding judo kits, getting on a plane, not knowing where I was going, where I was sleeping – that's the hard bit. When I stand on the mat, that's the easy part."
But what of her parents on the day she became a bronze medallist?
"They couldn't get tickets. So they watched it in the sports bar in Center Parcs!"
'You have to appreciate the journey'
Yeats Brown went on to win bronze again in her second Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022, this time in the 70kg category - and this time with her family in the venue.
Her career, however, has been plagued by injuries - she has been through three anterior cruciate knee ligament (ACL) reconstructions and seven surgeries in total.
Now 31, Yeats Brown - who competed for Team GB at the Paris Olympics in 2024 - wants to claim a first Commonwealth title, but knows the competition is stiff.
"Obviously, you go into tournaments wanting to win," she said.
"But then sometimes you have to appreciate the journey and how hard it can be, with some of the setbacks you have to overcome.
"I lost to a really good Australian girl [in Birmingham] who will be in Glasgow as well. So I'm hoping for a different result this time.
"But I think if you come away doing the best that you can with the things that you've had to overcome, then you can't be too harsh on yourself."
