Gudgeon going for gold at home Games

Newbury's Ellie Gudgeon is set to compete at this week's karate Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Gudgeon, 21, has had to overcome more than just her opponents in the Dojo to make it to Birmingham – she was unable to train during the Covid pandemic, and combines her career as an athlete with one as an accountant.

"I'm excited and nervous, a mixture of both," Gudgeon said.

"I've been training constantly for it, it's quite surreal that it's right around the corner now.

"I'll get my England badge, I think it's one of the proudest moments of my life, I was over the moon when I found out I was selected.

"My main aim is to come back with a gold, of course, but I also set myself targets, I call them key performance indicators.

"Throughout the Games there'll be aims that I want to achieve, so even if I don't win, I'll have reached targets and hopefully have demonstrated improvement."

Gudgeon will go to Birmingham full of confidence, having been crowned national champion in July.

"That was really good, I was stepping up to senior level so it was a bit more difficult, I wasn't expecting it," she said.

Competing in Birmingham will make a welcome change for Gudgeon – she trains in Belgium, has competed in Spain, Slovakia, Egypt and Germany, and has competitions scheduled in Czech Republic, Turkey, Indonesia and Italy before the end of 2022.

"It's really nice, it's the first time I've been selected and it's a home competition, my friends and family are all coming up to watch," she said.

"I train with the Belgian national coach, he's amazing, I'll fly out on Friday and train over the weekend, then it's back to work on Monday.

"This year's been a real learning experience, I've made friends with all the athletes from different countries.

"I don't get to see too much of the places I visit, I see the inside of a hotel room and the inside of a sports hall.

"It's a lot of hard work, I do three gym sessions a week, two cardio and four karate sessions.

"It's like having two full time jobs, some of the people I compete against are full time athletes, it's a lot of planning and a lot of strain, but it's all worth it."

When she's not training, competing or working, Gudgeon is fundraising to help finance her dreams.

She's always on the lookout for support and sponsorship – it could make a life-changing difference.

"Mum and I organise it, she's the organised one," she said.

"This year we've done a bingo fundraiser at the British Legion in Hungerford, we raffled off a weekend away, people's support is so important."

One place Gudgeon has yet to compete in is Los Angeles, but she's dreaming of making it to the City of Angels when it hosts the Olympics in 2028.

"Karate's just been re-shortlisted for the 2028 Olympics, that's my main aim," she said.

"In the meantime I'll be working hard, working my way up the rankings, believing and enjoying it."