Fourteen-year-old Jayden Horton has won gold and silver for the Whakatāne Judo Club at the recent national championships in Christchurch.

With seven years of experience on the mat, Horton is excelling in judo and using competition to challenge himself.

“In the beginning, it was about having fun,” he said. “Now, for me, it’s about testing myself against the competition.”

The Whakatāne club sent a small team of judoka to the Christchurch event, where Horton competed in the heavyweight division (over 66 kilograms) where he gained silver, and the open division, where he won gold against competitors of all weight classes. The gold medal is a first for Horton at national level and marks the achievement of a goal he’s worked tirelessly to achieve.

His mother, Rebecca, has proudly watched his growth and dedication over the years, and believes the gold was well-deserved recognition for his hard work.

“He’s built a home gym in the garage and has given up a lot to be where he is,” she said. “His sister and I are his biggest fans; we go to all his trainings. When he competes, it’s our voices you can hear over the crowd,” she said.

Horton’s coach and trainer, Kevin Mackey, has seen him rise through the ranks to become a disciplined and determined athlete.

“He’s very focused and very strong. People describe him as a boy with a man’s strength. He doesn’t show much emotion, but seeing his smile when he walked out with that gold medal was special,” Mackey said.

In the lead up to the national champs, Horton won gold and silver at the North Island Championships in Auckland, which, he believes, set him up to focus on bringing home some more gold.

“I had a good sense of where my competition was at so believed I could win,” he said.

Whakatāne Judo Club has been operating for 15 years and boasts a string of successful athletes, some with ties to national and even Olympic-level competition.