Livesey: Confidence had taken huge hit before Grand Slam bronze
BySportsbeat
Published 31/05/2017 at 16:09 GMT
Amy Livesey admits she feared she would never be able to get back to her previous best before taking bronze in the Yekaterinburg Grand Slam in Russia.
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The 23-year-old had been struggling since her return from injury, with some below-par performances knocking her confidence.
That all changed almost a fortnight ago however, when she defeated home favourite Daria Davydova in the bronze-medal match, an opponent 15 places higher in the rankings.
That secured GB Judo's first medal of the competition, in the last of a number of assured performances for Livesey in Russia, including victory over multiple Grand Slam medallist Diana Dzhigaros.
It also ended what has been a difficult year on and off the mat, already noticing a lift in self-belief in the days since taking to the podium.
"It was hard coming back from the injury. Some people don't find that, but it was difficult confidence-wise and getting back on the mat," she said.
"Each time I was losing it was knocking me further and further back, so I was worried I couldn't do it anymore and I wasn't as good as I was.
"But hopefully picking up this medal will help push me forward for the World Championships.
"It was a really good day, but when I won the first match I knew I could get on the podium that day.
"I'd lost to Davydova previously so it knocked me a bit going into the match, but going into it I knew I could win it.
"I needed to keep my distance, she likes to get close and throw quite big, but at the end of the match I went in close and threw her – somebody was going to get thrown right at the end.
"I won the quarter-final in Turkey with the same throw so it's very much working."
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