London's Wesley Greenidge believes his background in rugby helped him become a success in judo as he prepares to represent England at this summer's Commonwealth Games. Taking to the mat in Glasgow will mark a first Games for the 27-year-old who competes for Enfield Judo Club and was previously selected by Great Britain for the 2023 European Championships.
It was in that year that Greenidge won his first European Open gold medal, at Tallinn, with the heavyweight – who competes in the +100kg category – having a further four bronzes to his name at continental level.
As a youngster, Greenidge played rugby in several positions as a forward before being introduced to judo by his father and although he was reluctant at first, it became the sport he chose to pursue.
Greenidge said: “My dad sort of chucked me into Judo, to be fair. It wasn't as much for myself as it was for self-discipline and coordination. It was more about those kinds of things. He just wanted me to kind of get involved and also learn how to defend myself. I never really found it that interesting at the start.
“I did so many different sports when I was younger, and I think I started taking rugby really seriously, because rugby coincides with judo really well.
“There are some little things that you can do around the fringes of a ruck that I learned in judo, so that was good and I kind of kept with both of them.
“Then it kind of got to a stage where I was like, 'Okay, cool. You can do your county academy play-off, or you can go to the youth Olympics, which one do you choose?' And I kind of had to make that kind of decision. So, I chose judo.”
Judo is one of 10 sports that are part of what is a slimmed-down programme at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, with Greenidge’s competition taking place at Glasgow’s SEC Centre on August 2.
It was the disappointment of missing out on selection for the 2022 Games in Birmingham that made Greenidge determined he would earn a place in Team England this time, and he is confident he can make the most of his chance.
He said: “I'm very excited because the last time I thought I was going, and I wasn't. So that kind of hurt me a little bit, but I just dug in and happily got this one.
“Obviously, everyone goes into it thinking they're going to be ready to win it. That's going to be my aim.
“But I think just trying to pull off the stuff that I've been working on in training, that would be cool.”
Team England are Ready to Win at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Keep up to date on teamengland.org.
