Commonwealth Games aim for Inverness Royal Academy teenage judo champion
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A TEENAGE judo talent from Inverness is contemplating a push to take part in the next Commonwealth Games.
Inverness Royal Academy pupil Sophie Mapplebeck (16) earlier this month did her school proud by landing gold in her age group at the British Schools Championships in Sheffield.
The success was accompanied by the Northern Judo Club member gaining her black belt, another significant step in the career of the five times and reigning Scottish champion.
“She’s done the hard part, but has to complete her theory exam now, which she will do in the next couple of months with the next grading,” dad Mark Mapplebeck said.
“It was a really good success for Sophie who has been training in the sport since the age of five.
“She has won numerous events and trophies in the last few years, and is very dedicated and trains hard all the time.
“She also has a passion for dancing, cheer and hip-hop, so is really just keeping her options open at the moment over what she would like to do.
“She has expressed an interest in trying to get to a Commonwealth Games and is going to stay on for sixth year and then probably move away to Glasgow or Edinburgh for university.
“That means she will have a decision to make at that point because you can go full-time alongside university studies.
“We just don’t know at the moment what direction she wants to go in, but she has certainly expressed interest in trying to compete for the Commonwealth Games.”
The games take place in Victoria, Australia in 2026.
For now, there is time to savour success in the UK, with the British schools’ triumph coming after relative disappointment the year before.
“As long as she enjoys her judo, that’s the main thing because there are always ups and downs in the sport,” Mr Mapplebeck said.
“It is a bit like football in that one minute you can win a game and be top of the world, the next you can get beat.
“It is always about how you perform on the day and she can be quite hard on herself, but she performed really well at Sheffield.
“The year before, Sophie had managed to claim a silver medal at the schools championships. She didn’t perform badly, but it maybe gave her an extra incentive to perform and go one better.”
