Chelsie Giles eager to take ‘next step’ and secure World Championship medal

Chelsie Giles feels the small details can make the biggest difference when she aims to add a World Championship medal to her collection in Uzbekistan.

The 25-year-old claimed Great Britain’s first medal of the Tokyo Olympics when she secured under-52kg bronze, which she followed up by delivering the 2022 European title in Sofia during April.

After taking some time away from competitive action, Giles returned to the tatami at the Hungary Grand Slam in Budapest during July, where she lost her opening contest.

Giles and fellow European champion Gemma Howell, a silver medallist at the Commonwealth Games, will be part of a 10-strong British Judo squad looking to make an impact on the world stage in Tashkent when the action gets under way from October 6.

The Coventry judoka is determined to reproduce the form needed to earn another place on the podium as focus sharpens on the next Olympic cycle towards Paris 2024.

“I managed to be able to take a little bit time to rest and now I am looking forward to fighting again. I haven’t been at a competition for a while, so I am eager to get going,” Giles told the PA news agency.

“We have had a lot of training, so I don’t think it will will affect me in competition – it might benefit me because I am more eager to get out there and get competing again.

“I have come close to medal at the worlds before, but it is another step for me to get that world medal. Having picked up a European and an Olympic medal, it is the next one I would like to have.

“At this level, you know your competitors so well, it is the little things that make a difference.

“It is so important to watch your fights back and see where you made mistakes or where you missed opportunities, so that you can correct some in future matches – but you have also got to be aware of your opponents also doing the same.

“We always look at my fights, but we try not to focus too much on what they do but what I can do against them.

“It is hard sometimes to watch fights back that you have lost, but I think they are the moments where you can make improvements and changes to your game.

“Sometimes I can be too critical on performances, but I think that has made me me a better player and made me push myself a bit more.”

Lachlan Moorhead, 22, won the men’s under-81kg Commonwealth Games title, and Acelya Toprak, 24, will be making a first senior World Championships appearance on the back of taking under-57kg silver in Birmingham.

“We have a lot of potential coming through who are also picking up medals,” said Giles.

“I do get asked questions like ‘how would you stay so calm?’, so I just try and help them as much, like the way that people did when I was coming through who supported me.

“It is nice to give back. Hopefully I can do the same for other players.”