Summer Shaw: "Training and studying helps you to make the most of every second"

She said: “My older brother Scott did judo, so instead of going to my gymnastics I was stuck watching his class on Tuesday nights. My parents were like ‘you would really like it’ but I was really hesitant at first, saying that I’m not doing it.

“I ended up starting in 2012. A girl from my judo club, Karina Bryant, had got a bronze medal in London. She came back to the club and did a little Q&A for our summer fair. I saw this big shiny medal and thought ‘I want in’.

“So we asked her some questions, then my parents asked me if I wanted to do judo. I said if they bought me a judo kit. I was a bit inspired by the Olympic dream.”

From that first spark, Summer has never looked back, and is now ranked as the world’s fifth best -48kg junior judoka, as well as being second in Europe. During a recent training camp in Japan, she received confirmation of her selection for the upcoming European Under-23 Championships, the latest big challenge after a year full of them.

These remarkable achievements have led to Summer being shortlisted in the top 10 for SportsAid’s prestigious One-to-Watch Award. The annual Award, launched in 2006, recognises Britain’s brightest young sporting prospects and has previously been won by Olympic champions Tom Daley and Alex Yee and Paralympic gold medallist Hollie Arnold.

The top 10 athletes have been selected from around 1,000 rising stars, supported by SportsAid, across more than 60 different sports in 2024.

Summer has a 70 percent win rate in her 27 matches this year, and won two golds, two silvers, and one bronze in the Junior European Cups circuit. Upon reflection, she calls her European Cup victory in Berlin her best performance.

She said: “At the time, I was still pretty high up the world rankings at number eight, but the girl who got silver was number seven so she was higher than me. 

“One of the girls who got bronze, she won the Europeans after. Being on the podium with players who are obviously good - and at the top of the podium in that situation - definitely gave me a lot of confidence.”

What is most impressive about what Summer has achieved is that she is doing all this while combining it with her studies.

Currently in her second year of a biology degree at the University of Birmingham, Summer does not have a great deal of free time, having instead to play catch-up on studies for any classes she misses while she is away competing.

She added: “I’ve always been academic, but obviously balancing a hard degree like that with a full-time training schedule is very tiring.

“You just make sure you’re doing all the little things like eating and sleeping well, and making sure you’re stretching and doing prehab before your sessions.

“And in those sessions, you have to make the most of it and not be training for the sake of training, but with a sense of purpose.”

Long term, Summer would like to use her degree to go into curing diseases, but she has plenty of work to achieve in judo before then.

The biggest goal is to make it to Los Angeles in 2028. Summer was at the European Cup in Berlin this summer while the Paris Games were going on, admitting that the atmosphere in the French capital would have been incredible to be a part of.

And with her university studies set to finish just as qualification for the next Olympics ramps up, her path to the top is clear.

She said: “The plan is to get uni done so when the time comes to try and qualify for LA I can fully focus on the judo. With every sportsperson the number one goal is to be the best in the world.

“I want to qualify, compete and win in LA and Brisbane.”

Beyond the Olympic rings, she is still focused on her short-term future. Summer mentioned her desire to go to the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which just announced their inclusion of judo among the 10 sports in Glasgow.

She said: “It’s really exciting because in the Commonwealths where there are a fewer nations, England and Scotland do really well. 

“So hopefully we get a strong team and we can get the gold, plus you’d probably go into it as one of the favourites too.

“I’m currently the best in my weight group in the country so hopefully that doesn’t change in the next two years and that is another goal for me to look to.”

Summer has been provided with crucial financial support by SportsAid over three years – with the charity also offering personal development opportunities through workshops and visits. 

The typical value of a SportsAid award is £1,000 with money generated through a combination of commercial partnerships, trust and charitable funds, and fundraising activities.

Her success has not gone unnoticed, and her focus for the rest of the year, in addition to the European Under-23s, Summer will be defending her British senior title.

She said: “I’m hoping I will win the British Championships at the end of the year because it’ll be my third time back-to-back. 

“I won the juniors and seniors in 2022 and 2023, to win the seniors for the first time being in the proper age group for it, it’ll be good. 

“You can’t be too sure, but you’d hope I would still do it after two years in a row!”

SportsAid’s annual One-to-Watch Award is being supported by Aldi – the charity’s Official Supermarket Partner. The winner of this year’s Award will be revealed in December with each of the top 10 receiving cash boosts and special in-person visits at their training environments to celebrate their achievements.    

Photo Credit – with thanks to Gabi Juan