Lachlan Moorhead interview: Penistone's Commonwealth champion aiming for judo glory at Paris Olympics

It proved to him that the journey he had been on since the age of five - one often taken on his own or just with the support of his devoted Dad – had been worth it.

When he took victory on the judo mat at Birmingham 2022, all the sacrifices flashed before this young Yorkshireman’s eyes.

“At the time it meant everything,” says the 23-year-old.

“My friends and family were there, I wanted them to see what I’d sacrificed. I’d sacrificed a lot in my late teenage years: I don’t party, I don’t drink, don’t do anything like that. I just focus on my training.

“I’ve missed a lot of family events over the last few years, members of your family might be concerned because they don’t know what you’re pushing for.

“Finally I could show people what I was doing so they could understand and respect why I had done it. It was nice to show everyone, this is what I do.”

Imagine, then, how he would feel later this summer if he were to stand on the podium of the Paris Olympics, a medal hanging around his neck to recognise his efforts in the men’s 81kg (middleweight) division on Tuesday, July 30.

Plenty of tears, no doubt, and a few thoughts turning back to his hometown of Penistone, where it all began.

Young Lachlan was just five when he was introduced to judo. His father had been a boxer, but had to give up due to being a diabetic. Judo offered him the same physical combat he was looking for, so he veered into that.

“He was Yorkshire champion, and I was his little boy he dragged along to training sessions,” says Moorhead, as he proudly takes up the story.

“I’d be there climbing up mats, just generally being a pain, so then he was like ‘right, you’re going to have to start doing it’.

“I was five when I first tried it, probably too young to know what was going on.”

Judo clubs in a rural village like Penistone are not commonly found so Moorhead’s interest was satisfied with sessions at clubs in Rotherham and Huddersfield.

“But after a few years my dad started a club here in Penistone because he’d had enough driving round,” laughs Moorhead.

“In the end he had to take me all over Britain and into Europe competing.

“My Dad has supported me through it all and he was massive in getting judo started in Penistone. When the club first started there were 10 of us, me and my mates, and I’d got a little brother who did it and some of his mates were there. I’ve still got a picture of it. And the club is still going strong now. My Dad has stayed involved, still coaches at Penistone Judo Club, one of his students just got silver at the Under-18s British Championships.

“It’s nice to see there’s still some good talent coming through in Penistone.”

The influence his father has had on Moorhead is obvious, and whenever he returns home, as he did this Christmas, he drops in to volunteer his time to do coaching sessions with the young judokas.

By the time he was 14, though, it was clear Moorhead was on a singular path.

He had tried football and swimming, the latter to such a high standard that he was a North of England champion, but other sports did not have the draw that judo did.

“Every time you go to a training session, if you want to, you can fight at the end of it,” explains Moorhead. “In other martial arts, it’s not like that. So as a kid, it’s rough. Getting hit is rough, but judo means the ‘gentle way’. It’s wrestling.

"So you do your techniques and then at the end of every session there’s a bit of rough and tumble. I’m not saying it’s a punch up, but it does have a cathartic element to it. I just so much more preferred judo, it’s so much more social, you have a laugh with the lads that are there. In swimming your face is in the pool. So every night after school from the age of 14, it was training, and that wasn’t being pushed into it, that was me nagging my dad.”

At 16, Moorhead won a bronze medal at the Under-18s British Championships and then a few weeks later, replicated the feat at the Under-21 nationals. The latter got him onto the Great Britain programme in Birmingham, where he relocated after studying his A-Levels at Penistone Grammar School.

“My mate from Leeds was going down to Birmingham as well, I remember him saying if I were you I’d sleep in that kit. I’ve never been out of it since,” smiles Moorhead.

Like so many athletes, Covid interrupted his progress; in his case it ended his time in the junior ranks and accelerated his progression to the seniors.

“I actually hit the ground running after Covid, because I’d been training at home in my Dad’s gym. I won a grand slam medal. I’m the only British man to win a grand slam (world tour 10 events) medal in the Paris cycle.”

Then came the Commonwealth Games.

“I was still fairly new,” he remembers, “and the guy I fought in the final was a top-10 guy from Canada. But I went in believing I could win. I’d done a training camp in Italy with some of the top guys and I went on with the Canadian lads and I was smashing most of the opponents.”

Now for Paris. The path to the Olympics is unobstructed from a British perspective – he is the clear No 1 – but he has work to do to make the final 16 who will get to call themselves Olympians.

Only the top-ranked athlete from each nation will be selected. Moorhead is 26th, but has plenty of events between now and May to fight his way through the field.

“At the moment I’m still pushing for a qualification spot and I’m improving all the time,” he says. “So I’d like to think I’ll be even higher by May. We’ll see.”

He certainly doesn’t lack for dedication.

Later this month he heads to Georgia for a training camp: “They’re brutal out there, they just want to kill you,” he says. “Then if you beat them they want to fight straight away to level the scores. But after the session it’s like a real brotherhood, a lot of respect, and they’re all stand-up guys. You find that a lot in judo, I think it’s because it’s not that big a sport, everyone has got your back, even across nations.”

When he’s not on the mat, or studying for a degree in business from the University of Birmingham, he is watching old judo bouts on YouTube, trying to absorb as much as he can about potential opponents’ strengths and weaknesses.

All of it aimed at being the best athlete he can be come Paris…or even Los Angeles in four years time. “I’m a massive judo nerd, I love everything about it,” smiles Moorhead. “Everyone in my weight or near it, since 2012, I’ve watched all their fights. I’d love to win a gold medal to help elevate my sport.”