Judo: Rivers takes big step towards Olympic ambition

Martin Rivers has taken a big step towards accomplishing his dream of appearing as a judo referee at the Olympic Games.

The Kin Ryu Judo Club coach has passed his continental refereeing exam making him one of the seven highest qualified judo referees in Britain.

It enables him to officiate at all the junior and youth events in Europe and leaves him with just one more qualification to achieve before he can referee at the Olympics.

Rivers, 37, has been refereeing judo matches since he was 12 years old and admitted his delight at being so close to finally achieving his ambition to appear at the Games in 2016.

"I think I'm only the second person in the national federation to come through the whole system and into Europe, so it doesn't happen often," he said.

"There is a sense of achievement at doing it, and a sense of pride and relief."

Rivers has already assembled a glittering judo CV since joining Kin Ryu 26 years ago, being a former national champion in two disciplines and reaching the rank of Level Three coach and 3rd Dan.

But over the years, he discovered he had greater talent as a referee than simply a judo player.

"I realised I wasn't going to be the best competitor in the world," he admitted.

"I fought at county level, area level and national level. But I started to recognise what was going on when I watched contests.

"The fighting is not for everyone, and I have found the refereeing was something I wanted to pursue."

His ascent to the continental level of refereeing follows a spell of officiating at the World Masters Championships in Belgium last years, and the new qualification puts him alongside just six others in Britain, four of whom have the international rank to which he aspires.

"I have to be a continental referee for more than four years before they will consider me for the top level," he said.

"But if I am spotted refereeing at a European event by a member of the commission, there is a fast tracking procedure, so you don't know."

Rivers, the co-lead coach and treasurer at Crawley-based Kin Ryu, will make his first appearance as a continental referee at the European Junior Cup in Poland at the end of this month.