Koster aims to bow out in style

‘‘We’ve had our journey together through judo and that’s how we met, so this is a great ending to our story.’’

Jason Koster on his wife and fellow Commonwealth Games judoka Moire de Villiers

Jason Koster thought his elite judo career was over after narrowly missing selection for the Tokyo Olympics.

The elder statesman of New Zealand judo put the disappointment behind him and is targeting a dream farewell at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July.

This will be the final international event for the 39-year-old, who first represented New Zealand in the senior ranks in 2003 at the Oceania Championships.

It will be some ending for Koster, who will compete at the Games for the second time alongside wife Moira de Villiers (women’s under-78kg), who he coaches.

Christchurch-based Koster will be among seven judoka to represent New Zealand at the Games, joining Kody Andrews (men’s +100kg), Elliott Connolly (men’s u-81kg), Qona Christie (women’s u-57kg), Hayley Mackey (women’s u-78kg), and Sydnee Andrews (women’s +78kg).

‘‘It’s going to be my last event. It’s been a very bittersweet journey missing out on the Olympics a few times and winning a bronze in Glasgow [at the 2014 Games],’’ Koster said.

‘‘To be able to look back and finish up and say I’ve made it to two Commonwealth Games, I think 10-year-old Jason would have been pretty proud of that.’’

Featuring at another Games alongside his wife was extra meaningful with de Villiers’ competitive judo future looking uncertain following the birth of daughter Norah four years ago. Norah and son, Sam, 11, will be watching on in Birmingham.

De Villiers, who captured silver at the 2014 Games, heads into the event in the form of her life, ranked second in the Commonwealth, and fresh off five medals in five international competitions.

‘‘We’ve been to the previous Games together, which we thought we were pretty lucky, but to be able to do another one again it just makes it that much more

special,’’ de Villiers said. ‘‘We’ve had our journey together through judo and that’s how we met, so this is a great ending to our story.’’

Koster and de Villiers opened their own club, Premiere Equipe Judo, in the Christchurch suburb of Bromley in 2018 and have close to 100 members.

Five of the New Zealand squad for Birmingham are from their club with Connolly, Mackey, and Kody Andrews also training at their facility.

‘‘The journey shared is a lot sweeter than doing it on your own and not only Moira but the team,’’ Koster said.

‘‘We’ve seen some of the guys in our team literally start from being kids as teenagers to now fighting at this level and to still be there with them and with Moira and just know we’ve got that really, really good [training] hub it’s pretty special.’’

Koster’s judo career had been filled with plenty of highs and lows. He fell agonisingly short of qualifying for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, missing out by one spot both times. No New Zealand judoka qualified for the 2020 Games in Tokyo, which were delayed a year because of the pandemic. Koster just missed out on meeting the selection criteria.

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Koster earned bronze in the men’s under 100kg division, beating Australia’s Duke Didier. Four years later, judo

wasn’t on the programme on the Gold Coast. ‘‘Under-100s is always a very tough division and there are some really top-level fighters in there, but I showed in Glasgow that on my day I’m a dog and I can fight.

‘‘It’s what I’ve done my whole life. I’m going there to perform and the plan is to go out there and walk away with some silverware.’’