Tomi to join GB squad for Euro festival
Another Imrie daughter heads to European Festival
Livingston judoka Tomi Imrie has been called into the Great Britain squad for the European Youth Olympic Festival in Hungary later this month.
The Festival will see around 3000 athletes aged between 14 and 17 from 50 European countries come together to compete across 10 Olympic sports from July 23-29.
Tomi will be following in the footsteps of her older sister, Emma, who won a judo bronze medal at the Festival 10 years ago.
The 16- year- old Jidel Judo 93 club member said she was “excited” to have qualified for what she calls the biggest tournament of her career.
The delighted youngster commented: “I’m really excited to have been selected for the Festival.
“It’s a pretty major tournament so to have been selected to compete for Great Britain is amazing. It’s definitely the biggest competition I will have competed in so it’s a great opportunity for me.”
Tomi will be part of a 12-strong judo team aiming to be in among the medals in Gyor
The festival is designed to help develop the top young European athletes in their aim of reaching the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.
Her coach, and father, Johnny Imrie has backed Tomi to be in contention for a medal, but admits the main goal is to enjoy and learn from the opportunity of getting to compete for her country on the big stage.
He said: “Tomi’s the first person from the club to qualify since her big sister Emma 10 years ago. Emma was able to win a bronze, so there’s no pressure on Tomi!
“The competition is for girls aged 16 and 17 and Tomi is the younger of the ages so she’s going up against girls who are more experienced and physically stronger than her.
“The year gap at their age can really make a lot of difference, so it’s going to be a great learning experience for her.”
Despite that, he said they were hopeful that Tomi can grab a place on the podium, adding: “Being in the younger of the age band could count against her, to be honest, but in saying that we know she’s capable of getting a medal. I definitely wouldn’t be surprised if she came home with a medal. I’d have been expecting her to get a medal if the tournament was next year, but there’s not much we can do about that.
“She gets one chance and she’ll make the most of it. It was a chance that she just couldn’t turn down.
“The whole experience is going to be incredible for her and it will be a terrific part of her development to be around that atmosphere and that level of competition.
“Obviously Tomi and the club don’t want to go there with the aim of not winning. We clearly hope and want her to get the gold medal, but we all go into it knowing that, no matter what, it will be a tremendous event and experience for her as she is at the highest level she can compete at for her age.
“The club is absolutely delighted for Tomi and it shows what you can do when you work hard.”