Natalie Powell reckons mental strength was crucial in her historic bronze medal at the World Judo Championships in Budapest.
The 26-year-old became the first Welsh judoka to win a medal at the worlds after beating former champ Marhinde Verkerk in the -78kg category..
And for Powell, it made up for the disappointment of last year’s Olympics in Rio where she finished seventh.
The Merthyr Tydfil-born judoka said: “I’m just really happy and glad that all the work I’ve put in has finally paid off and got a medal at the end of the day.
“It’s just kind of a relief as well. You put all the effort in and for it to pay off in the end of the day is nice.
“I think Rio really helped me today.
“At the start of the day I didn’t feel sharp and I had to really dig in for a lot of the fights and I had to go to a place mentally that I learned to do last cycle which before that I wouldn’t have been able to do.
“After my disappointment at the Olympic Games this is what I’ve been working for.”
The British judoka put the pressure on throughout the bronze medal battle and forced Verkerk to pick up two shidos for a false attack and stepping out of the area.
Powell continued to put the pressure on and with just a minute to go she threw Verkerk for ippon.
She started her day against China’s Kaili Zhang with a single waza-ari proving enough against an awkward opponent.
Powell’s round of 16 contest against Canada’s Ana Laura Portuondo Isisa proved to be a real tussle.
The young Canadian, a former Junior World medallist, was a tough opponent and was close to scoring on a number of occasions.
A late waza-ari to Powell looked to have won her the contest but a waza-ari score was also given to Isisa from a previous exchange. This meant the contest went into golden score.
With Powell looking the fitter of the two judoka, Isisa looked to finish the contest quickly but Powell countered for waza-ari to move into the quarter-finals.
She took on Japan’s Ruika Sato, the sixth seed, and it was a more tactical contest with neither judoka able to get ahead on the scoreboard.
Powell picked up a shido for passivity but the contest went into golden score.
Sato caught Powell with a nice throw for ippon which dropped the British judoka into the repechage final. There she received a walkover as two-time Olympic medallist Audrey Tcheumeo (FRA) was unable to compete due to a knee injury picked up earlier in the day.