Lesley Reid

I bought myself out of Ballet to take up Judo at the age of 5. I was an assistant coach at my home club in Chalfont St. Peter from the age of 16 and started up Hatfield Polytechnic judo club when I was a student there in the 1980s. I was very proud to be awarded the BJA’s “Children’s coach of the year” in September 2009.

Until recently, my best achievement in Judo was a Bronze medal at the British Closed and a place in the England squad in 1986 and I was National Student Champion on two occasions. In January 2010, I returned to competitive Judo to train for the 2012 Paralympics. I won bronze and silver medaIs at the VI world championships, but later found that my sight was not bad enough to allow me to compete at London 2012.

I won my 2nd bronze in the British Closed and a silver in the Commonwealth champioships in January 2012, before retiring again (may be)