If perseverance in the face of adversity was a medal event at Glasgow 2026, then Yeats-Brown would already be standing atop the podium with gold around her neck.

The 31-year-old may achieve that feat in any case if all goes to plan in the Women’s -70kg category at the SEC Centre on Saturday 1 August.

With bronze medals from Glasgow 2014 and Birmingham 2022 stashed away, Yeats-Brown has already proved herself on the Commonwealth stage. A third Games medal would probably top the lot.

Since she claimed her first, the England judoka has endured seven operations, including three ACL knee reconstructions and one to her elbow.

But those were mere setbacks compared to the heartbreak of sibling Jenny's death just weeks after she competed at Birmingham 2022.

Yeats-Brown said: “If you had told me at Glasgow 2014 that you can achieve all these things - you can go to three Commonwealth Games, get fifth places at the worlds, Grand Slam and Grand Prix medals - I would have said, ‘I’d love that’.

“But if you had laid out what I would have to go through to get it, with all the injuries and family circumstances, I’d have said, ‘there is no way’. But that is actually me and I did it. I'm very proud of how I kept going.

“A lot of times judo has been the outlet for me coping. While it has been lovely to go and represent England and Great Britain, when I step on the mat, sometimes it is just a case of, ‘everything is calm, I can just do my Judo’.

"You can't really think too much about anything other than the partner in front of you, what they are going to do and trying not to get thrown.”

If Judo has provided temporary respite from the pain of Jenny's death after being diagnosed with cancer aged just 28, Yeats-Brown says her continued dedication to the sport is “always for my sister”.

“She was my biggest supporter," she said. "She would come everywhere with me, she would text me who my first fight was against before I had even checked the draw.

“Even in hospital she was watching me on the computer. One day she had just woken up from eight hours of brain surgery.

"It was my first tournament back from injury and she was the first to call me. Through to the very end she was always my biggest supporter.”

Late replacement

Yeats-Brown’s preparations for Glasgow 2026 have at least been less stressful than her debut for Team England in the city 12 years ago.

On that occasion she was on a family holiday at Center Parcs when called up as a late replacement two days before the competition.

“I had to race up to Glasgow, find a judo kit that fitted me as I didn't have my own and get all my accreditation sorted in time,” she said.

“The easy bit was stepping out onto the mat. As fighters, you are always ready to fight. Any opportunity I am given, I will take it with both hands.

“Within two days I had my first Commonwealth medal. It was a crazy, whirlwind experience but one of the best of my career. I definitely came away thinking, ‘I want more of this’.”
Katie-Jemima Yeats-Brown

Perfect ending

Yeats-Brown’s bronze at Birmingham 2022 was one of 13 - including five golds - in Judo for England as they topped the medal table ahead of Canada and Australia.

Scotland managed four medals, including a gold for Sarah Adlington in the +78kg category, making her the first judoka to win two Commonwealth Games titles following her first at Glasgow 2014.

Adlington, who turns 40 three days after these Games end, hopes to make it a golden hat-trick to put the seal on a medal-laden career.

“Experience teaches you a lot and I’ve definitely got plenty of that,” she said.

“I’m hoping I can put it to good use here. Competing at Glasgow is a bonus and it’s going to be the perfect ending to my career.”

The Judo competition gets under way at the SEC Centre on Friday 31 July.

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