Veteran Bryant vows to fight on

Although veteran Karina Bryant finally landed her first Olympic medal at her fourth Games she vowed not to retire following her bronze in London on Friday.

The 33-year-old has been at the top level of her sport for the last 14 years, winning seven medals at both the World and European Championships.

But three times before she went to the Games as a major medal hope, only to return empty-handed.

This time, though, she was in inspired form and more than once took the adoring crowd on a rollercoaster ride.

In her quarter-final against Kazakhstan's Gulzhan Issanova she was 12 seconds from defeat before pulling out an uchi-mata (inner thigh throw) for a winning half-point waza-ari score.

And then in the bronze medal contest against Iryna Kindzerska of Ukraine she twice went behind a score after being thrown, only to hit back both times and claim a dramatic victory.

And having waited 12 long years for this medal since her Olympic debut in Sydney, Bryant could be forgiven for wanting to hang up her belt.

But now she's even considering the next Olympics in Rio.

"I'm not 100 percent sure yet what I'm going to do, I'm still really buzzing for today to be honest," she said.

"It probably inspires me to go on. I'll probably first have a bit of a rest and then I'll decide if I'll go on for another four years but I'm certainly not finishing yet."

It was the second time she had fought in front of a home crowd in a major tournament having also claimed a bronze medal at the World Championships in Birmingham in 1999.

And then like now she said the home support drove her on.

"The crowd here were amazing. If I'm honest I can't remember back 13 years," she joked.

"It's a long time ago but I do remember the crowd was amazing in Birmingham. The crowd (here) spurred me on. It's nice to share this experience with a British crowd."

Having won only one major medal since 2005 -- a silver at the World Championships in 2009 -- some might have thought Bryant was past her best, but not her.

"I'm really pleased with my performance. I just kept believing in myself," she said.

"I never doubted my potential, I kept digging in and doing the right things on and off the mat. I had the self belief that I hadn't reached my limit in the Olympics and that kept driving me forwards.

"Obviously it means a lot to me.

"I feel great, I'm particularly happy for myself because it's my fourth Games and this is what I've been after for so long.

"I just kept believing that I could achieve my dream and I'm really happy."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/veteran-bryant-vows-fight-194754388--oly.html

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