Olympian Lucy Renshall told Fen Regis Trophies that she is thankful for discovering judo in primary school, and dreams of winning gold after competing in Tokyo.
Renshall was first introduced to judo at the age of eight when SKK Judu Club coach Peter Blood held taster sessions at her primary school in Walsall. Having discovered a new world where physicality was not only allowed, but encouraged, she never looked back and has enjoyed success at junior and senior level, winning medals at European and World Championships.
“I started judo when I was eight years old,” Renshall said. “I moved to the National Training Centre in 2013.
“My club coach came into my primary school and did some taster sessions. I thought it was so cool!
“I was a tomboy in primary school, I loved all different kinds of sport but I thought it was great that you could fight and that it was allowed.
“You could do a fighting sport and I had never really known about it. I got really involved and I enjoyed it, I joined the judo club after that.”
“So, this is Judo!”
Now a second dan in her discipline, achieving her black belt by the age of 16, Renshall admits that she didn’t know too much about judo when she attended a taster session. Originally believing judo would be closer to karate, her misconceptions were quickly debunked.
“I had heard of judo but I didn’t know too much about it,” the four-time British champion said. “It was the first time that I was like ‘so, this is judo!’.
“When you say, ‘I do judo’ they assume it’s something like karate. I was a bit like that too, but when I tried it out, I was like ‘oh wow, this is not what I thought it was’.”
“I haven’t done karate, but recently I have been doing BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu). The BJJ club in Walsall come over to the National Training Centre and train with us for one evening a week, so we have been getting involved a little bit with that to help us in our groundwork. “
SKK Judo Club
Though Renshall has been training at the National Training Centre in Walsall for nine years, she remembers where it was that she came from and those who helped her along the way. Peter Blood is the man that she credits for getting her into the sport and Renshall continues to keep in contact with her first coach, returning to SKK Judo Club to teach the next generation coming through.
“My club coach that I started judo with, Peter Blood, got me into the sport. He brought me up as a judo player.
“Even when I moved over to the National Training Centre I still kept in contact with him, before and after competitions. I still go to the judo club sometimes to give a little back, to teach some of the players some of the things that I have learned.”
National Training Centre
Through competing at world level, Renshall is in the fortunate position that she can train full-time at the National Training Centre through UK Sport funding. Between 2021 and 2025, UK Sport has committed to giving £6.3 million to the sport as part of the Paris World Class Programme, looking ahead to the 2024 Olympic Games.
The significance of having the backing t is not lost on Renshall, who admits that she is “lucky” that she can train everyday to follow her dream.
“I get paid by UK Sport to train full-time. I train everyday Monday to Friday and sometimes on Saturdays.
“We are lucky because we don’t have to work alongside training as we get funding. It is nice to have some things that are a little bit separate, but your main focus has to be judo. Getting funding makes that possible.”
Success and Olympics Debut
With a glittering junior career, boasting gold at the European Junior Championships in 2015 and the European U23 Championships in 2016, Renshall took no time at all in announcing her arrival on the senior stage, winning bronze in 2018 at the European Championships in Tel Aviv.
“Becoming junior European champion (in 2015), and winning bronze at the junior World Championships that same year, told me that I was going along the right steps. I was on the right level and getting the medals that I really wanted.
“It was a huge confidence booster going into the seniors. Having them medals behind me gave me the confidence.”
For any athlete, the pinnacle is to compete at the Olympic Games and Renshall achieved that by earning a spot at the Tokyo Games. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Games were delayed by a year and had to take place behind closed doors, though Renshall insists that did not take away from the magnitude of the occasion.
“Going to the Olympics is every athlete’s goal, and it was mine,” she said. “Even before I did judo, I always had a goal of wanting to go to the Olympics.
“When I found out I was going when I was selected for the team, I was just so happy. I was proud of myself as I had worked really hard to get there.
“Going to the Olympics was crazy, it is an experience that you will never forget. It was a little bit different because of Covid and having no spectators – my family and friends would have tried to come out and watch it [if they could].
“Everyone was in the same boat at the Olympics as there was no spectators for anyone. Just having an Olympic Games, especially in Japan as that’s the home of judo, was really special.
“I don’t think having no spectators took away from the experience. It would have been if family and friends could have been there, but it was the same for everyone. We just had to enjoy what we had.
“We made the most of what the Olympics was.”
