‘I feel like I let everyone down’ - History-making judo competitor heartbroken by first-round elimination

TOKYO, Japan:

Jamaica's history-making Judo representative at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Ebony Drysdale-Daley, was a picture of disappointment as she left the competition area inside Nippon Budokan after her women's 70kg clash against Portugal's Timo Barbara yesterday.

Drysdale-Daley, who became the island's first-ever judoka (a competitor in judo) at the Olympic Games, lost by an Ippon (a warning worth 10 points) 3:07 minutes into the contest to Barbara, with the Jamaican also suffering three non-combative penalties.

Moved by the crushing end to a dream she has harboured since she took up the sport as a five-year-old, Drysdale-Daley, 26, fought back tears as she expressed her disappointment with the result, pointing particularly to her approach in the contest as the major reason for the result.

"I feel like I have just let myself down and let everyone else down, because I could have gone further, so I am really deflated at this time," Drysdale-Daley lamented. "I didn't put in all this work just to be an Olympian. Me and my coach didn't, so it's just really hard right now.

"I didn't get the attack rate going into the fight, which is something that I knew I needed to do, which is something me and my coach spoke about. I feel really underwhelmed at this time," Drysdale-Daley told The Gleaner. "I knew I was more than capable, but I just didn't get into the fight, didn't get enough attacks in; and the more you attack, the more chances you have of scoring and that just didn't happen."

Fitzroy Davies, who has been coaching Drysdale-Daley for the last 10 years, was just as disappointed with her, scolding Drysdale-Daley for ignoring the fight plan and discussions they had.

"There's an old saying, 'If you don't hear, you must feel,' so she must feel the disappointment because she knew that this is what the girl was going to do. If she wants to beat these players, she has to change her fighting style to compete with the top players," Davies said.

"I thought that she could get past her (Barbara); really, I honestly thought she could. The second-round fight would have been against the current world champion so that would have been difficult, but I saw her beating this girl," Davies added.

"Knowing how the girl fights, we had the plan that she (Drysdale-Daley) is supposed to attack, because the girl was going to do what she did there - attack, drop her, attack, and she can't just bowl around and not do anything," said Davies.

Drysdale-Daley added that despite the disappointing result, she is hoping that her participation on the Olympics stage will help to inspire others youngsters who might be interested in attempting the sport.

"My ultimate goal was to go on the podium and just spark interest in Jamaica, and you would have children, or any age, just interested, whether it's just a hobby or an ambition to get to the Games. Judo is not just a sport, it's about discipline," said Drysdale-Daley.

The other Jamaican in action yesterday was swimmer Keanan Dols, who returned to the pool at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, this time to compete in the men's 200m individual medley event.

Dols finished in third place with a time of 2:04.29 minutes, missing out on a spot in the next round.