There are a lot of notable Londoners. Some devoted their lives to science, while others plunged into art. However, the stories of famous athletes are no less interesting. These are people with an extremely resilient and strong personality. Despite most stereotypes, many of them are women. Sometimes, they manage to achieve unprecedented success even in the most brutal sports. British judoka Karina Bryant is one of them. What was her professional career? What mental features should you have to carry out such an activity? What helped the athlete to win? Learn more at londonka.
Karina’s interest in sports and the first victories
Karina Bryant was born in London on January 27, 1979. Sport has been present in the girl’s life since her childhood (which is common among athletes). She became interested in judo and quickly achieved her first positive results. At the age of ten, she joined the Camberley sports club. Constant training and the struggle for primacy made her strong at a fairly young age. About six years after joining the club, Karina received her black belt. One of her first serious competitions was the London Youth Games. In 1955, Karina Bryant took part in the European Junior Championship, competing in the over 72-kilogram class, and won a silver medal. Later, she became the World Champion among juniors. The judoka achieved success in 1988 again when she won the Junior World title for the second time and the European title for the first time.
Repeated attempts to get the desired result
Although the athlete repeatedly became the World Champion, her professional path at the Olympic Games was quite difficult. For the first time, she took part in these competitions in Sydney in 2000. Then she reached the round of 16 and was eliminated. Despite that result, the first Olympic Games became special for the athlete, as Karina Bryant was present at the opening ceremony. It is a really breath-taking moment when athletes can feel that they are part of something bigger and more important. The judoka spent the following years in exhausting training and took part in several competitions. She was again selected to represent Great Britain at the 2004 Olympics. That time, she managed to reach the quarterfinals, but she didn’t achieve the desired victory. Her next attempt was in Beijing in 2008. Then she reached the round of 16 again, as for the first time. In 2011, the athlete faced many difficulties in her professional career. She suffered a severe neck injury and was forced to stop training for six months. Finally, in 2012, having gathered all her strength and courage, she resumed her sports activities and prepared for the next competitions in a fairly short period of time. Then Karina Bryant won a bronze medal at the European Championship. Despite her still unrecovered injury, she decided to take part in the Olympic Games. In the summer of 2012, she was selected to compete in the 78-kilogram class. Karina kept quite well in the first stages and showed a good result. She managed to defeat the Slovenian in the round of 16. In the quarterfinals, she defeated an athlete from Kazakhstan. As a result, the judoka received a bronze medal at those Olympic Games. After her victory, she was ready to participate in the games in Rio in 2016. However, health problems got bothering again. The athlete underwent three surgeries. In addition, Karina aggravated the injury when she tried to return to daily training. In 2013, Karina Bryant announced her retirement from professional judo.