Ebony Drysdale-Daley made history when she took the gold medal in the Commonwealth Judo Championships held Sept. 25-29, 2019 in Birmingham, UK. The athlete was Jamaica’s single entry and won gold in the -70 kg category when she faced off against Annie Boby of England in the final round.

The 24-year-old Drysdale-Daley is a student at the University of Wolverhampton in the UK where she trains and she’s no stranger to victory. The judoka competed in the 2014 World Junior Championships final and won titles in the European Cups for Juniors and the Scottish Open.

In 2016, she won the senior European Cup in Saarbrucken, Germany and the silver medal at the 2016 European Open in Glasgow, Scotland. She became Jamaica’s entry to compete in the 2019 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. Drysdale-Daly competed in the 2019 Pan-American Games and qualified to compete with just two qualifying events.

During the Commonwealth Judo Championships, Drysdale-Daley was paired against Chloe Nunn of England in the first round. A few penalties were awarded to both competitors before Drysdale-Daley prevailed, enabling her to progress to the semi-finals to compete against Ravneet Kaur of India. Two minutes into the match, Drysdale-Daley utilized her throwing skills to emerge victorious, before finally facing Boby for the final round.

Drysdale-Daley switched affiliation to compete and is the first female to earn gold. Her win brings Jamaica’s judo medal count to three. Competitor Tom Davies switched to represent Jamaica in 2018 and also won gold at the Commonwealth Championships that were held in India.

The Commonwealth Judo Championships are an international competition open to countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. Founded in 1986, Championships are held biennially, recognized by the Commonwealth Games Federation, and organized by the Commonwealth Judo Association. Judo is an optional sport at the Commonwealth Games program, but the three years in which it was included saw participation double.