By, Danny Caro
2 min read
ByDanny Caro, Danny Caro
Amy Meyer believes the 2016 Rio Olympics are the next part of her journey after winning bronze in the judo competition at the Commonwealth Games.
Meyer, 22, recovered from a first-round loss to win her repechage fight against Zambia before claiming bronze against Barbados in the under-48 division.
"I fought with everything I had and being able to come home with a medal is an inedible feeling,” said Meyer.
"My parents came from Australia to watch me fight so it means a lot that they were there to support me and share that experience. Without them, I probably wouldn't still be involved in the sport. They were ecstatic and are so proud of me."
Victory in the bronze medal match was almost snatched from Meyer in the dying seconds after her opponent, Onoh-Obasi Okey, pulled off what seemed like a winning throw.
A point was added to the scoreboard before being quickly removed and the Australian judoka was awarded victory because she had only committed two penalties to Okey’s three.
"I think the best feeling after that bronze medal match was looking over at my coach, Kylie, and seeing her a bit teary and running over and jumping on her. She was actually a little teary,” said Meyer, who was competing at the Games for the first time.
"Qualifying for the Glasgow was a massive achievement in itself. I've worked so hard to get here so being able to add a medal to that is like adding the cherry on top.
"It is just an incredible feeling so all the sacrifices that I’ve made to get here have definitely been worth it."
Although judo was one of the first sports to finish in Glasgow, Meyer remained with the delegation to cheer on her teammates.
"Win or lose here Rio was always the next step," she said. "In judo, as in any sport, you have your good days and your bad days. You just have to make sure that you don’t let your bad days get you down and keep motoring through.
"Luckily for me, everything lined up here and I had a great day. I’m definitely looking forward to the next part of the journey leading up to Rio.”
Proud father, Danny Meyer told JC Sport: "Winning a Commonwealth bronze medal has been an amazing achievement for Amy. My wife, Kathy, and I and our eldest daughter, Sarah, are extremely proud of her - not only for making it to the Commonwealth Games and winning a bronze medal, but for the hard work, determination and sacrifices she has made over the years to achieve her dream.
"After the medal ceremony, she came to see us in the stands, she was surrounded by spectators, all congratulating her and admiring her proudly attained medal. She was even asked for her autograph and had her photo taken with a young Judoka, whose dad said that if he worked hard, he could one day achieve this himself. Amy was humbled by the experience.
"The atmosphere at the Games was electrifying and the support from everyone here and OS, incredible – Wow!
"I don’t think that we’ve ever experienced anything as exhilarating as watching our daughter compete at the Commonwealth Games."
Steve Solomon was in philosophical mood after limping out of the 400m semi-finals with a reoccurrence of a hamstring injury.
The Australian champion sprinter made a promising start, but he pulled up suddenly clutching his thigh which has also ruled him out the 4x400m.
"It’s all part of sport,” he said. “The road to victory is sometimes the same road to injury.
"I went into the race feeling stronger and faster than ever before. I had never got to the 200m mark feeling so fresh, but when I went to start putting on the burners around the top bend I felt my leg go.”
Swimmer Jason Dunford failed to retain gold in the 50m butterfly. The Zimbabwean missed out on a place in the final after finishing fifth in the semis.
His best performance came in the 100m final. He led for the majority of the race before running out of steam and finishing seventh in a time of 52:71.