Sophie Cox, the judo ace who competed at the Athens Olympics in 2004, quit, and returned five years later to stake her claim for a spot at the London Olympics, has a history of challenging sporting convention.

As a 10-year-old living in Rochdale she was captain of her school’s mixed football and rugby league teams and scorer of 67 tries in the 1991/92 season.

Cox was Wembley-bound to play in the traditional ‘schoolboys’ curtain-raiser to the Challenge Cup final, until the North West Counties Schools Rugby League board intervened.

No girl was to play a boys’ game, and certainly not before a crowd of 60,000, it ruled. Cox was left disillusioned and Rochdale Town were without a full-back.

At the time, Cox wrote an eloquent letter of protest to the Women’s Sports Foundation. National coverage of her plight, coupled with public outrage and basic common sense, saw the law rescinded. Cox made Wembley history as the first female to play rugby league there, earning a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records in the process.

The little girl who wrote that letter is 29 now and treading new ground again, and is equally thoughtful about quitting judo in her prime shortly after becoming British Champion.

“I did a few competitions after Athens which took me into 2005,” Cox said. “But I’d been doing judo since I was a baby and felt it was time to have a break. The centre I trained at full-time in Bisham closed down. There was no real alternative offered to me, I was left in the wilderness and felt a bit lost. I just wanted a sabbatical, I didn’t plan on taking such a long break.”

Cox – who gained her black belt at the age of 15 – travelled to Thailand and got a job teaching English at a school in Phuket, where she stayed for five years.

“It was a completely different vibe and a life experience and gave me a new perspective on things,” she said.

“I wouldn’t say it makes judo seem any less important because in the moment, when you’re on the mat, everything is focussed, you just want to win more than anything and you need that complete desire.”

Although she wasn’t competing, Cox instructed judo classes in her free time and had a couple of Thai Boxing fights. “I was in the ring thinking ‘this just
doesn’t compare to judo,’” she said.

“When I found out London had won its Olympic bid there wasn’t any part of me that thought maybe I should have stuck with judo throughout. I believe we make decisions for a reason.

“Sometimes it’s for the right reason and sometimes it’s for the wrong reason, but you have to follow the path you’ve chosen. Maybe if I had stayed with judo I wouldn’t be here any more. Maybe I would have gone to Beijing and decided that was it for me.”

British Judo had a torrid time in Beijing. A centralised training centre in Dartford, Kent – where Cox is now based – didn’t have the desired impact on performance, and the team returned without a medal for a second consecutive Olympics.

“I was quite lucky because I missed out on the fall-out from Beijing,” said Cox, who knows what it is like to compete at a home Games have taken bronze at the Commonwealths in 2002.

“Judo isn’t having the success of other minority sports in Britain, like taekwondo, and we have to look at the reasons why.

“I don’t like to pontificate over the financial side of things but the money is there. But maybe it’s getting diverted and not reaching the right places. The pressure is undoubtedly on to get the medals in London.”

Cox’s return to the sport began with a bronze medal at her first event back, the German European Cup in August last year, to add to her long list of medals dating back to 1997.

She dropped down to the Under-52kg weight class and had to contend with a change in technique as well as the toils of being an older athlete.

“I don’t think there’s any set age that you peak with judo, it’s a personal thing,” said Cox. “It depends on the attitude you have.

“It’s important to have a good relationship with your coaches and those around you who understand what an older athlete needs.

“I can’t go at 130mph the whole time, and it takes me a little bit longer to recover than it does a 20-year-old.

“My fitness is about the same as it was first time round but because I’m fighting in a lower weight class I’ve been working on speed rather than strength.

“I believe I’m a better fighter now than I ever was. I’m a lot smarter, approaching each fight differently.”

Cox, of Bacup Judo Club, continued her remarkable comeback at an Olympic Test Event at London’s Excel Centre last month.

She beat fellow Britain Stephanie Inglis with an Ippon, judo’s equivalent of a knockout blow, to clinch the bronze medal.

“I was taken aback at how quickly I was able to come back and compete against the top girls,” Cox said.

“I don’t want to be just competing at the top though, I want to be able to win a medal.

“I was also surprised at how many old faces were still about in the coaching system from my first time round.

“They were really pleased I was back and gave me a great reception.

“At the same time there was a lot of scepticism from the new ones who don’t know what I’ve done to deserve to be here.” Tweet