Malin Wilson has just been through the toughest six weeks of training of her life but the experience, she believes, will stand her in good stead as she goes into the European Judo Open at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena in two weeks time.
The 21 year-old from Ullapool returned on Wednesday from an intense training camp in Tokyo and with Japan being the home of judo, it’s safe to say that they know what they’re doing over there.
“It was incredible, I didn’t want to come home but you have to at some point unfortunately,” says Wilson. “The volume of work they do compared to us is just ridiculous but you do get used to it. It’s tough but I felt fine because I absolutely loved it.”
The Glasgow event will only be Wilson’s second-ever Continental Open, with her first coming just a few weeks ago in Chinese Taipei. The -57kgs judoka was unhappy with her Asian result but it has only made her even more determined to put in an improved performance when she fights on home soil in a fortnight.
Her reaction to her Chinese Taipei defeat served to confirm to her, though, that she is most certainly not a good loser. “I was devastated because I absolutely hate losing,” the British number two said. “Straight away, I was looking forward to competing in Glasgow so I could try to correct the mistakes I made. I’m targeting a place on the podium in Glasgow so hopefully I can do that.”
Wilson trains at Scotland’s national judo base at Ratho in Edinburgh and one of her closest friends is Sally Conway, who won an historic Olympic bronze medal in Rio last month. It was, admits Wilson, an emotional roller-coaster watching her friend. “I can’t describe how it felt to watch Sally win bronze- I’m so happy for her. It was so nerve-wracking but she had the day of her life and she really deserves it,” she says.
Conway’s achievement may have put her friend through the ringer but it has also given Wilson a belief of what is possible. “That someone I’m so close to has won an Olympic medal brings it a little closer to home for me,” Wilson says. “It makes me think that just maybe it could be achievable. Ever since I started judo when I was 13, I’ve wanted to go to the Olympics. I’ve got so much to work on between now and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 but it’s definitely a goal.”
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