Judo: Kiwi talking a bold game

Moira de Villiers. Photo / Simon Baker

Moira de Villiers feels she is carrying two responsibilities into her first Olympic Games judo competition.

The North Shore fighter, who lines up in the under 70kg class on August 1, knows how important making a statement on the mat is, not only for herself but the sport in New Zealand.

''It's huge. It's only me so there's quite a lot of pressure, but it's good because we get the sport out there," de Villiers said.

''That's the main thing. Judo is really tiny in New Zealand and I'm hoping to get a good placing because that helps our funding as well."

De Villiers and her coach and partner, Jason Koster, have been training in Barcelona and in the south of the Netherlands over the last four weeks and that period has done the South African-born fighter considerable good, both in terms of her fighting and her state of mind.

"Moira had the chance to fight with nine of the girls she'll possibly be competing against on August 1," Koster said.

"We've scouted everyone we're going to fight and the great thing about the training camp is putting a few plans in play, and it came together a lot better than we were expecting."

De Villiers - the fifth woman and 14th judoka to represent New Zealand at an Olympics - will discover her first round opponent five days in advance. From that point on, training will be specifically tailored to overcoming that opponent, taking into account techniques and size.

But there's no fear from either of them and Koster was talking a bold game.

"We can beat anyone. If we don't think we can then we should not be here. We're not here to make up the numbers; we're here to win."

De Villiers, who qualified by winning the single Oceania Continental spot by winning the Commonwealth title in Cardiff this year, knows she'll be nervous, but that can be turned to her advantage.

"We normally use the nerves to help us get through. Jason gets me really pumped up for the fight and we just have to use those nerves in the right way."

She has an Olympic ranking of 18, so making the expectation of a top 16 finish as a minimum, should be well within her reach.