Dream day as Chelsie takes world silver

COVENTRY judoka Chelsie Giles added World Championship silver to the European gold she won earlier this year on the second day of the World Championships.

Coventry Judo Club’s Giles became the first GB judoka to win silver in the worlds following Nekoda Davis in 2018 after reaching the final in the women’s 52 kg event in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

“I am so happy to be a World medallist. It feels like a dream,” said the 25-year-old, pictured. “I started the day a bit slow but as the competition progressed my confidence grew, and my performances got better and better.”

“To face two Olympic champions along the way shows how strong the field was. Thank you to my coaches and team I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Giles, who was the third seeds, faced current Olympic champion and two-time world champion Uta Abe, from Japan, in the final. Abe registered a waza-ari score at the midway point of the contest and defended well in the latter stages when Giles looked to register a score of her own.

Following an opening round bye, Giles defeated China’s Liping Liu in round two. Giles trusted her superior strength on the ground in newaza to pin her opponent for the mandatory 20-seconds. Giles survived an early scare in her round three contest against Katelyn Jarrell (USA) but again trusted in her newaza, transitioning from sangaku into a 20-second hold down to progress to the quarter-finals.

Giles then faced Poland’s Aleksandra Kaleta and as the contest neared the halfway point, Giles registered a waza-ari courtesy of an uchimata, before registering another uchi-mata.

Women’s 48kg Olympic champion Distria Krasniqi, from Kosovo, stood between Giles and a place in the final. The contest went to a golden score and Giles was able to force her opponent to the ground and pin her in newaza for a waza-ari score.