Black Country Judo duo hungry for more success

Hailing from the renowned Wolverhampton Judo Club, Dale Jones won gold in the super-heavyweight category, while Ben Walker picked up a silver in the middleweight category in mid-October.

"It wouldn't have been possible to achieve this standard and gain international representative honours, without the many hours and dedicated training that have been given to us by all of the coaching staff at Wolverhampton Club," Ben said.

"Although Judo is an individual sport, it can't be overstated how much of a team effort has gone into this. Wolverhampton Judo Club is an undisputed home of champions which although welcoming for all participants at all levels, has a deep history of preparing those who want to be competitive players for success.

"When you walk into the dojo and see Olympic medals, World medals, European and Commonwealth Champions on the wall, it is inspiring as well as a reminder of the quality of the coaching available plus the dedication that is necessary to succeed. All of the Coaching staff, plus our friends and training partners have contributed massively towards helping us from technical input and analysis, through detailing nuances that we wouldn't be able to see or feel ourselves, to motivating and encouraging each other.

"We are grateful to be in the company of not only great judo coaches and players, but people who are first and foremost excellent human beings."

Ben has recently come off a road to recovery after breaking his femur in May 2022, which halted his competition progress.

Both men have been selected to represent Great Britain overseas at Masters' level and have their sights set on the Veterans European Championships in Sarajevo in June 2024.

Meanwhile, Dale is also preparing for the British Championships in December, which will be his last event on the veteran's circuit before retiring, where he hopes to face off with Britain's 2024 Olympic athlete Wesley Greenidge.

"Whilst this achievement pales into insignificance, versus the Olympic and World medallists who have trained there prior to us, we would like to repay our club's commitment by going onto win at the Veterans European and World Championships in 2024," Ben added.

"On the Judo side, we shall be listening to the coaching staff and working to the letter under their guidance. They've prepared and trained with Olympic medallists, World, European and Commonwealth medallists and far, far better Judo players than us, so we shall be keeping our mouths shut and doing exactly what we are told, putting our trust and faith in their capable hands. One of our coaches has previously won the World Masters Championships, so he knows intimately what is required, we shall continue working on technical ability, mat-craft and improvement of all fighting attributes.

"Our strength and Conditioning training is being programmed by former GB Strongman champion Jack Lovett at Spartan Performance and we use equipment from Wolverson Fitness, formerly based in Willenhall."