University student bags bronze medal at Tokyo Olympics

University of Wolverhampton student, Chelsie Giles, bagged a Bronze medal on behalf of Team GB for the Women's -52kg Judo at the Nippon Budokan on the second day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.

Chelsie picked up the bronze medal in Tokyo when she overcame Swiss competitor Fabienne Kocher in the women's 52kg event.

Chelsie Giles is studying for a Business Management degree in the Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Sciences and trains at the British Judo facilities based at the University's Walsall Campus. She was a 2019 European Games bronze medallist.

“I think my dad’s probably been crying,” Chelsie said after her medal. “My brother just said ‘well done’. He’s proud.

“It’s special because no one else was able to come out so I was still able to have a member of the family here with me. He’s been a very big support and I’m lucky to have him as a brother.”

Speaking after winning bronze, 24-year-old Chelsie said: “It feels very special to do it in Japan. It’s an amazing arena, the atmosphere was amazing and to do it where judo started makes it extra special.

“I felt really good in the warm-up and I was taking each fight as it came. It went really well, I believed that I could do it and my coach has always believed I can do it and it showed in today’s performance.

“I never underestimate any of my fights, I think that’s when mistakes are made, so I go into the fight knowing what they do and knowing what I’m capable of doing.

“With my best performance I know I can beat some of the top players and today’s performance showed that.”

Chelsie is currently studying for a business management degree at the University of Wolverhampton, alongside a number of other judoka sports scholars. Fellow Wolverhampton student Lucy Renshall is also competing in Tokyo, while Kelly Petersen-Pollard and Amy Livesey competed at the International Judo Federation’s World Tour tournament in Tel Aviv earlier this year.