Judo - Rio 2016 - Game Of Thrones

As the biggest prize in Judo recedes into 2021 , the great and the good, are still jockeying for selection.
Some of the greatest players in the world won’t be there.
At 60, 66 and 73kg Japan have multiple entries who would be favourite to take Gold were they selected.
Imagine the heartache, to plausibly consider yourself the best in the world, and you don’t even get a ticket.
Consider then, the lot of the lower ranks and the toil of competing on the IJF circuit. Traveling to far flung corners of the globe, living out of a suitcase and on a shoestring, surrounded by friends but never more alone.
Usually self funded with whatever meagre sponsorship can be drummed up. Often times it’s friends and family who are subsidising the lack of funding for a lot of athletes within the sport.
For many it’s turning up to competition after competition, vainly chasing ranking points for entry into the Olympic Games.
Since being kids and finding success on a national level, it’s all they have aspired to do. Represent their country at the Olympics.
They may have flown half way around the globe, but if they go out in the early rounds, there’s no further round robin matches to stay in the tournament.
It’s goodnight Vienna......or Paris, Tokyo and Tbilisi to name a few.
If there’s no camp, they may as well be on the next flight home.
It’s the toughest of sports and the IJF do so many things very well. Where they fall short is in athlete remuneration. In terms of athletes, they have a Kings ransom, yet the prize money is a pittance.
In an ideal world, every athlete would be paid handsomely for competing, I fear that day is a long, way off.......
I once spoke to a fellow who represented their country at the Olympics, he had bad memories of it, as he never performed how he would have liked.
I thought at the time ‘what a shame’, that he let the result ruin the occasion.
I hope one day he can sit back and revel in the achievement of being there. He had a seat at the table, of the Greatest Show on Earth 🌏 montage looking back at the men's competition from Rio 2016.