WO2 Lewis Hannington (REME) and Lt Col Jim Crompton (AGC (ETS)) will compete at the Paris World Championships Kata next month but they are no strangers to the elite level of the kata discipline – which sees two people perform prearranged, formal sequences of judo techniques – having finished 15th in their debut outing at the tournament last year.
With a challenging programme planned in the build-up, they are targeting a top ten spot this time round.
Preparations started at the Silesian Open in Poland last month and will continue at the German Open on October 5. The soldiers will then join their army teammates for a two-week training camp in Gibraltar before arriving in the French capital to compete on November 8 and 9.
While the schedule is intense, Hannington believes it will hold them in good stead for the major test to come.
“The Silesian Open has coaching with some top judges attached to it,” he told SoldierSport. “As we don’t have that access in the UK, we really need events like this to improve.
“If everything then goes well in Germany and our scores are good, we will know what we need to refine when we get to Gibraltar. It is one thing making changes, but you really want them to be on point.
“At the World Championships you are up against such a high standard of opposition, but we have been competing in world ranking events for a couple of years now and are in a very good place.
“A top ten finish is possible. This event opens the door to countries like Japan, who are the best in the world, which means it will be so competitive.
“It is an open competition. There are no age, weight or gender categories so if you win it, you are the best.”
Hannington has been included on the army talented athlete scholarship scheme (Tass) this year, which has given him the opportunity to train full-time in judo.
As well as improving as an athlete he has been able to progress in his role with Team GB, where he is involved in developing a kata performance pathway.
“Tass has been amazing in terms of strength and conditioning and nutrition,” he said. “I had a good base knowledge but having that in- depth support is brilliant.
“In the past, myself and Jim have had to squeeze our training in and trying to balance two busy schedules has been near impossible.
“Now, when he can take time to train I can match him and that has worked to our advantage.”
