Sport
17 June, 2022
Cairns Judoka to compete in 2022 Commonwealth Games
LOCAL judoka, Sebastian Temesi, will wear the Australian colours on the stage of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this August.
Temesi is not new to the world of competition, with judo being his biggest passion since he was a child and having won the title of Australian Judo Champion 10 times and the Oceania Champion three times.
He is now preparing for the Commonwealth Games after being selected as one of the athletes to represent Australia with the help of Cairns Judo Club and Coral Coast Judo Club.
After a COVID hiatus from competitions, Temesi is happy to be back in the international arena.
“I’m very competitive; whatever it is in my life, I like to make it into a competition,” he said.
“Since COVID, I have been out of the competition zone, and I got back into it this year, so it feels like a good come back, winning two golds and getting a silver in Melbourne.
“We’ve been working towards representing Australia, and I was expecting to climb back to the top.
“So there will be two of us representing Australia in the under 90kg category in the Commonwealth games.”
As a very competitive athlete who excels not only in judo but also in MMA, kickboxing, wrestling and more, Temesi feels thrilled to compete and represent Australia.
“I love representing Australia; wearing the green and gold is a huge honour,” he said.
“I love the atmosphere of the competition; the nerves kicking in it makes you feel alive.
“The competition is the fun part; the hard training is not as fun, but it’s always rewarding.
“And it’s such an honour to represent FNQ; there’s such a good judo community up here, with the Coral Coast Judo Club, I’ve trained there for years, and that’s a great group of guys.
“Innisfail, Cairns, all over, we stick together for state training and the up-and-coming young kids are doing a great job.”
Temesi is aiming for medals, and he does not feel nervous, just focused and ready to go.
“The training never really stopped for me, but I am excited to compete overseas again.
“It can be nerve wracking and scary, but I’m so competitive, so it just comes easy to me,” he said.
“I want to bring home a medal; that’s the goal.
“And we go until we win, so there’s no stopping.”
