Kody Andrews is still in dreamland after the New Zealand judo team’s triple delight in Coventry.
Andrews won silver while Christchurch club-mate Moira Koster clamed bronze, as did Sydnee Andrews, at the Commonwealth Games on Thursday (NZT).
Kody Andrews (no relation to Sydnee) lost the gold medal bout to Canada’s Marc Deschenes in the men’s 100kg+ division, suffering defeat by Ippon after an impressive day out in his first Games.
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Kody Andrews won silver in the men’s 100kg+.
“I feel like I want to cry,” he told Sky Sport.
“To be honest it hasn’t hit me yet, it probably will tomorrow when I wake up and realise this isn’t a dream. It’s amazing, and to think that I get to share this experience with my team and my family, holy moly, it’s a great moment.
“My parents have been my rock, so to have them here is amazing. My dad wasn’t originally going to come but one of his workmates said ‘oh, you’ve got to go’ and here we go, silver medal.”
The beaming 22-year-old heaped praise on his support team; five of the Kiwi judo team for the Games are from the Premiere Equipe Judo Club in Christchurch, Moira Koster, and her husband Jason, who is also their coach.
“We boost each other up, if one of us is struggling, we always try to help raise each other up. I got the medal today, but it’s not just mine, it’s for everyone.”
He said he hadn’t though too much beyond today but “you might see me at the 2024 Olympics, we’ll see how it goes”.
Moira Koster successfully pinned down Ayuk Otay Arrey Sophina of Cameroon to complete an Ippon and add to her silver medal from the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
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Moira de Villiers (second from right) celebrates her bronze medal.
“It was a little bit of a dogfight and I’m ruthless on the ground, so I knew that I was going to get it,” Koster told Sky Sport.
“I didn’t get what I came for but I still wanted to achieve something. It’s really important for me because coming back from having my daughter, I’ve only just competed internationally this year.
“I need a holiday. I just need a little break before I get back on the international circuit. I really wanted to come back and prove people wrong.”
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Sydnee Andrews (blue) celebrates after winning the bronze medal bout.
Andrews then flipped Sarah Hawkes of Northern Ireland and held her down to complete an Ippon and claim her medal in the 78kg+ event.
“Me and Sarah [Hawkes] actually train at the Camberley Judo Club, so I knew it was going to be a hard match, because we both know each other’s moves,” she told Sky Sport.
“It was a real honour to fight with her on the mat. You’re friends off the mat but when you’re on the mat, you’re selfish, you’re there to win.”
