SA judoka Whitebooi credits mental toughness for Birmingham gold: 'I had to believe and push myself'

It turned out to be a stellar day for South Africa in judo as Geronay Michaela Whitebooi claimed a historic gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on Monday.

Whitebooi's gold then spurred fellow teammate Charne Griesel on as she claimed bronze soon after in the women's -52kg.

It was South Africa's first medals in judo since the 2014 Glasgow Games and the first time SA female judokas reached the podium in Commonwealth history.

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Whitebooi was strong throughout in the women's -48kg category on her Commonwealth Games debut as she fought her way through to set up a final against Shushila Likmabam of India.

It was a hard-fought final with the fight lasting for 4 minutes and 25 seconds before Whitebooi won in the golden score round with a waza-ari (awarded after an action in which the opponent is thrown with control and accuracy or held on the back for between 15 and 20 seconds).

Whitebooi says her Tokyo Olympic experience pave the way for her as she held her Tuks coach Nikola Filipov, who is back home in South Africa, close to her heart.

"I think Tokyo really helped me, it was almost the same set-up, so when I stepped here, I remembered Tokyo. It really motivated me to win today, it was really hard, though," said Whitebooi after her win.

"We're not used to having so many fights in South Africa, so I really had to believe and push myself. We trained really hard at home, we couldn't go to camps and my coach really put in the hard work and pushed me.

"I'm really grateful, even though he isn't here, I can hear his voice without being here. I knew what he wanted me to do and I had his voice in me to push until the end."

Whitebooi says her fighting spirit and mental toughness came from her mother,