Faith Pitman

A potential London 2012 Olympic Judoka from Harlow, Essex

Stats card

Sport:

Judo

Event(s):

63 kg

Club(s):

West Essex Judo Club

Coach:

Thomas Cousins (Personal), Go Tsunoda (National)

Career highlights:

  •  2007 gained a European U23 bronze medal 
  • 7th place at the Senior World Championships
  • English number one

 

Achievements:

2011

  • 3rd European Cup, London
  • 3rd European Cup, Hamburg
  • 5th World Cup Lisbon

2010

  • 5th World Cup Birmingham
  • 1st European Cup Orenburg

At the age of 11 Faith Pitman began doing judo. By 14 she was on the British Cadet squad and the Junior squad and subsequently went on to compete in the Cadet Europeans and Youth Olympic Games. In 2004 aged 19 she won her 1st Junior European medal, to add to a great collection of international medals she had by this point amassed. In 2007 aged 22 Faith gained a European U23yr bronze medal to her hoard along with a 7th place at the Senior World Championships narrowly missing out on automatic qualification for the Olympic Games in Beijing. In the beginning of 2008 she suffered a broken hand whilst in preparation for the upcoming qualification events to solidify her place in the world ranking list and as a result had to miss out on vital events that in the end cost her the place in Beijing. After Beijing the focus on points shifted to self improvement and becoming a more rounded judoka as each weight automatically qualifies, she has now started the chase to up her world rankings through qualification events and is focussed on the path ahead to London.

Team Essex Ambassadorial Duties:

Demonstrated Judo and answered questions around my training and ambitions at ESB Tourism Conference October 2010
Journey to the Podium Project 2010 working with artist Rob Smith

Impact of team Essex Ambassador Award:

"The funding has helped to cover expenses associated with training, competitions, and being a full-time athlete.

It has ensured I have been able to get to training at the British Judo Performance Institute, which is 40 min from my home in Essex. It has also helped me to compete in competitions outside the compulsory programme for the British squad. t has enabled me to continue to train full-time and focus my energy on 2012.

This award not only helped me financially, but helped give me the confidence to appear in public as a representative of judo, Team Essex, and elite sport. If I had not been awarded this grant, I may not have been able to continue full-time training." (Faith Pitman).

View Faith’s Journey to the Podium collaboration ‘Player’
 

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