Josh Katz represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in the -60kg category.
He is one of the youngest ever Judoka from Australia to compete at the Olympic Games.
Amongst his other accomplishments, Josh is 4 time Senior Oceania Champion, 3 time Senior Australian National Champion and medalist at numerous World and European Cup events, including Gold in the Oceania Open.
During our conversation, we discuss his interesting journey to the 2016 Olympic Games, juggling school and qualification events, what it’s like to be an athlete in 2021, how the Olympic qualification process is different this time around and what his plans for the future in the sport are.
*Since the time of recording Josh Katz won a Bronze medal at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.*
Nathan Katz represented Australia at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games in the -66kg category.
Nathan won a Bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Amongst his other accomplishments, Nathan is a 3 time Senior Oceania Champion, 2 time Senior Australian National Champion and medalist at numerous World Cup events.
During our conversation, we discuss his journey to the 2016 Olympic Games, what it’s like to be an athlete in 2021, how the Olympic qualification process is different this time around and his work with Australian Charity Life Line.
*This episode was recorded and uploaded April 2021, before Nathan had competed in the Tokyo Olympic Games or the 2022 Commonwealth Games*
Danny Harper hails from the world renowned Kendal Judo Club where he learnt his craft as a High Performance Judo Athlete and then later as a Judo Coach.
Danny is a former Great Britain Team representative, winning numerous National and International titles.
Following his competitive career, Danny set up the incredibly successful Craven Judo Academy (https://cravenjudo.co.uk) in the North West of England and is currently the North West of England Area Manager and a coach for the England Judo Team.
During our conversation, we discuss his journey from athlete to coach, the joys of making weight for competitions, what it takes to run a highly successful Judo for Schools business and the new skills required for a Judo coach in 2021.
Abigail Paduch is an Australian Judoka, how won a Bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Abigail was the 2019 Junior -78kg Asian Champion. She has won multiple Australian National Championships and Oceania Champions Golds, has numerous Junior European Cup medal’s and at the time of recording this episode, is ranked number 2 in the World for her age and weight.
During our conversation, we discuss her training program, aspirations of competing at the Commonwealth and Olympic Games and her mental preparations on the day of a competition.
*This episode was recorded and uploaded in March 2021. Since then, Abigail has overcome injuries and fought her way to a Commonwealth Games 3rd Place in the +78kg category at the 2022 Birmingham Games*
Michael Horley represented the Great Britain Judo Team for a number of years, with career highlights including competing at the 2010 Tokyo World Championships, ranking number 1 on the European Ranking list in 2013 and winning numerous European Cup medals, including the prestigious German Open.
Following his competitive career, Michael transitioned into coaching Judo athletes.
Initially at Judo Scotland, were he worked as part of their High Performance Programming, working closely with the Cadet (U18) and Junior (U21) athletes.
Michael now lives in Canada where he works as a High Performance Coach for Judo Saskatchewan.
During the conversation we discuss his competitive Judo career highlights, how he prepared mentally for competitions and how this has helped him be a better High Performance Judo Coach.
