I’ll get a KICK out of COACHING
Judo star Conway is ready to throw herself into a new role guiding the stars of tomorrow
During a decade and more as a fighter supreme, Sally Conway became accustomed to throwing herself into things and not holding back. To driving herself to be a little better every day and riding the punches that sometimes saw her flung with punishing force onto the floor — and then picking herself up to continue the good fight.
What a career it brought her as Scotland’s premier judoka in recent times. One which reached its glorious summit at the rio Olympics five years ago when she stood on the podium with a bronze medal swinging from her neck. A souvenir to complement the 70kg bronze from glasgow’s
Commonwealth games in 2014. And a world championship bronze and European silver stashed away as mementos.
From a journey that ended earlier this year when, just after her 34th birthday, Conway — to the surprise of many — opted to call it a day rather than dance one final fling in Tokyo.
The curse of Covid, and the lockdowns that brought so much of normal life to a grinding halt, affected us all in different ways. Cooped up at her Edinburgh flat, Conway was separated from a familiar routine and it hurt.
‘it was sore, because you’ve been able to do something and then, all of a sudden, you’re not,’ reveals Conway. ‘But one of the reasons why i decided to stop was that i didn’t have the want to sacrifice that i once had.
‘The want to get to another Olympic games... that wasn’t there any more. You know how hard it is to put yourself through the training that needs to be done to be able to win an Olympic medal or to put in the performance that you want to.
‘it’s hard enough when you do want it. So trying to do something when you don’t want it is a completely different ball game.’
When the decision came, you sensed the relief outweighed any tension or trauma. There is still unspent energy though. Fortunately for judo, she is throwing herself vigorously into a different challenge, joining Sportscotland’s Coaching Future Programme, effectively an apprenticeship scheme designed to harness the banks of knowledge acquired by performance athletes by helping them to transition into helping their would-be successors.
A few months back, Conway ended an exile from the mat to train with some of the sport’s younger hopefuls at Judo Scotland’s base in ratho. To her admiration — probably — they did not hold back.
‘You forget when you don’t do it, and you go back on the mat, how much it hurts,’ she laughs.
But what a role model to have up close. ‘i feel like with my experiences, and what i’ve learned through the sport, i’d be able to give a lot to them.’
Particularly in unpicking the mental application that can raise the bar in sport, from a grassroots level to the grandest stages of them all. i was fortunate enough to track Conway through her amazing morning, noon and night in rio’s Carioca Arena on August 10, 2016, darting to ringside to witness each of the five bouts that propelled her, step by step, towards Olympic bronze.
What struck me, then and now, was the absolute focus that she retained throughout. Marching past towards the locker rooms after each win and even her semi-final defeat, eyes trained only on the prize. That trait was coached into her, she admits. Another skill to pass on.
‘i felt like after 2014, there was so much i learned,’ she says. ‘i started working with Andrew Cruickshank, my sports psychologist, and i feel like that was a massive game changer.
‘Billy Cusack, my coach, always knew how to get the best out of me on the mat. To put me in the right frame of mind to go out there and compete or train. But then when Andrew came along, it just changed it again. Once i was getting my head right and preparing for each tournament in exactly the same way, i found i was more consistent.
‘i also talk a lot about being happy in what you’re doing. And i felt like when i was
happy, i got the best out of myself. My performance was so much better and more consistent. And then that’s when the medals came.’
Hopefully, she declares, her ex-team-mates can savour the ultimate elation when the Olympics begin. Further inspiration as fuel for the fighters of the future. Conway will cheer on every throw and kick.
‘What i’m going to miss is travelling the world with my friends, being with them nearly every weekend, having good times before, during and after. But now, even though i’ve stepped away from competing, i’ll still be behind them. That’s exciting.’
I feel that with my experiences, and what I’ve learned in the sport, I have a lot to offer