From teased kid, to Paralympic medallist, to motivational speaker | The journey of GB Judo icon Ian Rose
A devastating diagnosis of eye cancer, or retinoblastoma, at just six-months old left Ian Rose with no left eye, limited sight in his right eye, an indent down the side of his face and a permanent need for thick, unflattering glasses.
As a shy, teased 7 year-old; his confidence and self-esteem was at rock-bottom. “I had no confidence, self-esteem or belief in myself because I looked slightly different.” Rose explains.
This was until a short trip to Micklefield Judo Club in High Wycombe changed everything and set him on the path to sporting glory.
Understandably upset by their young son’s home-time tears and desperate lack of confidence; Rose’s parents decided to act and introduced him to local Judo coach, Ron Cleere. “[Ron] got me on the mat and I enjoyed the sport. I'd found something that I liked.”
Within a matter of weeks, he started making some new friends and his confidence began to grow. “I could walk and be proud of myself because of what I was doing. It was the place, effectively, where I went to just be myself.”
Despite an almost instantaneous confidence boost, it took him a little longer to build his skills on the Judo mat. “I wasn't naturally the best at Judo when I started. I didn't show a natural talent for it or anything like that. But what I did was I tried my best.”
It took him two years to finally win his first medal, which he modestly and humorously claims was just for “taking part”.
Hard-work was something that Rose put into everything he did throughout his career and his drive for success soon led him onto bigger and better things. He received his first International selection in 1989 whilst in his final year of secondary school and went on to win bronze at the European Visually Impaired Championships.
His big moment then arrived when he secured a spot on the plane to Barcelona for the 1992 Paralympic Games. Sadly, things didn’t go exactly to plan for the up-and-coming para-athlete on his global stage debut.
“I'd been on the national squad for a while but I hadn't competed in a truly global, massive competition. I hadn't quite got to that level. I had lost focus on actually competing. It was about going to the Paralympics, not just competing in a normal competition. I'd been overwhelmed.
“Also what I'd done was fall into the trap of thinking the same as the public were back in the 90's about Paralympic sport. They thought ‘isn't it nice that these disabled people are having a go, well done them’.
“As we know now, and as I was taught by these Paralympians I was competing against, they're actually elite sports people but just so happen to have a disability. I was taught that lesson in Barcelona.
“Looking back, I was glad I was taught that early on in my career, because then I completely changed my mindset and never underestimated them again after that.”
A chastening fifth-placed finish in ‘92 was massively disappointing, but only spurred the earnest athlete’s fighting spirit on even more.
He fought back strongly by winning gold in the European and World Championships in 1995 and entered the next Paralympics in Atlanta as the world number one with the wind firmly in his sails. But, in his first fight of the tournament, disaster struck.
“I met this Brazilian [Antonio Tenorio Da Silva] and he just took me apart; it was a massive surprise, I didn't know where it came from.
“Quite honestly, after that first fight I wanted to go home. I went there for gold, I wanted to do the trio of gold at the Europeans, Worlds and Atlanta. I wanted the three and this Brazilian got in the way.”
This was the first time since being that shy 7 year-old that Rose felt vulnerable and low on confidence. His rock-hard resilience soon kicked in, though. “I was like 'well you're here; do a job, get back out on the mat, do your best, there's a chance you can get a bronze'. And I did.”
Despite overcoming this mental hurdle to reach the podium in Atlanta, the toughest and most gruelling challenge of the Paralympic medallist’s career was still yet to come.
He had the tickets in his hand to fly to Quebec for a tournament which, if successful, would qualify him for the 2004 Paralympics in Athens. However, at the last minute, his family needed him. “There is nothing more important to me in my life than my family” he says unequivocally.
His dream of another chance at Paralympic gold had faded fast so he decided to settle down for a career in IT; until he received a transformative phone call from Steve Pullen, the national coach for the Paralympic team. “Do you want to compete in Athens? He asks Ian, “I’ve got you a wildcard. What’s your weight?”.
“After saying 'that's a bit rude' I then said ‘88 kilos’.” recalls Rose.
It was then that it was revealed to him that the wildcard spot was in the 100+kg category, meaning that Rose needed to embark on a nine-month journey to pile on 12kg if he was to keep his Athens dream alive.
“I needed to eat, in between January 2004 and September 2004, because of the training I was doing and the calories I was burning during training, a lot more than usual.
“I needed to eat four, full-sized dinners a day, everyday. Plus, all the good stuff in the middle like fruit, veg, drink, all that sort of stuff.
“My life was completely consumed by eating healthy food and lifting heavy weights. I wasn't doing what I was doing before; in the gym running on a treadmill, going on a bike, doing lightweights for a lot of reps because I was middleweight.
“Now I'd turned into a heavyweight, I needed to do more body-building type stuff.”
The bulked-up fighter arrived in Greece at the weight of 102kg, but would still be competing against experienced heavyweights who were pushing 150kg. “These guys are monsters, they're massive” he says.
His speed and fitness eclipsed his competitors’ strength and physicality on the way to a silver medal. Only Azerbaijani Judo legend, Ilham Zakiyev, stood in the way of that elusive gold.
After a ninth-placed finish in Beijing and a late injury denied him of a final farewell in London, the two-time Paralympic medallist decided to retire in 2011. He wasn’t finished inspiring people, though.
He decided to share his inspirational story, knowledge and experience for a living by taking up a career as a motivational speaker.
Since switching his focus from sport to speaking, the retired Paralympian has spoke in highly prestigious venues such as the Oxford Union.
His perfect blend of humour, wisdom and insight has engaged thousands of people across the country.
Despite winning a plethora of medals and accolades from an illustrious sporting career, it’s inspiring other people to be better that really makes Ian Rose proud.
In his own words, he wants to be remembered as the person “that inspired other people to just want to be their best”.
As a shy, teased 7 year-old; his confidence and self-esteem was at rock-bottom. “I had no confidence, self-esteem or belief in myself because I looked slightly different.” Rose explains.
This was until a short trip to Micklefield Judo Club in High Wycombe changed everything and set him on the path to sporting glory.
Understandably upset by their young son’s home-time tears and desperate lack of confidence; Rose’s parents decided to act and introduced him to local Judo coach, Ron Cleere. “[Ron] got me on the mat and I enjoyed the sport. I'd found something that I liked.”Within a matter of weeks, he started making some new friends and his confidence began to grow. “I could walk and be proud of myself because of what I was doing. It was the place, effectively, where I went to just be myself.”
Despite an almost instantaneous confidence boost, it took him a little longer to build his skills on the Judo mat. “I wasn't naturally the best at Judo when I started. I didn't show a natural talent for it or anything like that. But what I did was I tried my best.”
It took him two years to finally win his first medal, which he modestly and humorously claims was just for “taking part”.
Hard-work was something that Rose put into everything he did throughout his career and his drive for success soon led him onto bigger and better things. He received his first International selection in 1989 whilst in his final year of secondary school and went on to win bronze at the European Visually Impaired Championships.
His big moment then arrived when he secured a spot on the plane to Barcelona for the 1992 Paralympic Games. Sadly, things didn’t go exactly to plan for the up-and-coming para-athlete on his global stage debut.
“I'd been on the national squad for a while but I hadn't competed in a truly global, massive competition. I hadn't quite got to that level. I had lost focus on actually competing. It was about going to the Paralympics, not just competing in a normal competition. I'd been overwhelmed.
“Also what I'd done was fall into the trap of thinking the same as the public were back in the 90's about Paralympic sport. They thought ‘isn't it nice that these disabled people are having a go, well done them’.
“As we know now, and as I was taught by these Paralympians I was competing against, they're actually elite sports people but just so happen to have a disability. I was taught that lesson in Barcelona.
“Looking back, I was glad I was taught that early on in my career, because then I completely changed my mindset and never underestimated them again after that.”
A chastening fifth-placed finish in ‘92 was massively disappointing, but only spurred the earnest athlete’s fighting spirit on even more.
He fought back strongly by winning gold in the European and World Championships in 1995 and entered the next Paralympics in Atlanta as the world number one with the wind firmly in his sails. But, in his first fight of the tournament, disaster struck.
“I met this Brazilian [Antonio Tenorio Da Silva] and he just took me apart; it was a massive surprise, I didn't know where it came from.
“Quite honestly, after that first fight I wanted to go home. I went there for gold, I wanted to do the trio of gold at the Europeans, Worlds and Atlanta. I wanted the three and this Brazilian got in the way.”
This was the first time since being that shy 7 year-old that Rose felt vulnerable and low on confidence. His rock-hard resilience soon kicked in, though. “I was like 'well you're here; do a job, get back out on the mat, do your best, there's a chance you can get a bronze'. And I did.”
Despite overcoming this mental hurdle to reach the podium in Atlanta, the toughest and most gruelling challenge of the Paralympic medallist’s career was still yet to come.
He had the tickets in his hand to fly to Quebec for a tournament which, if successful, would qualify him for the 2004 Paralympics in Athens. However, at the last minute, his family needed him. “There is nothing more important to me in my life than my family” he says unequivocally.
His dream of another chance at Paralympic gold had faded fast so he decided to settle down for a career in IT; until he received a transformative phone call from Steve Pullen, the national coach for the Paralympic team. “Do you want to compete in Athens? He asks Ian, “I’ve got you a wildcard. What’s your weight?”.
“After saying 'that's a bit rude' I then said ‘88 kilos’.” recalls Rose.
It was then that it was revealed to him that the wildcard spot was in the 100+kg category, meaning that Rose needed to embark on a nine-month journey to pile on 12kg if he was to keep his Athens dream alive.
“I needed to eat, in between January 2004 and September 2004, because of the training I was doing and the calories I was burning during training, a lot more than usual.
“I needed to eat four, full-sized dinners a day, everyday. Plus, all the good stuff in the middle like fruit, veg, drink, all that sort of stuff.
“My life was completely consumed by eating healthy food and lifting heavy weights. I wasn't doing what I was doing before; in the gym running on a treadmill, going on a bike, doing lightweights for a lot of reps because I was middleweight.
“Now I'd turned into a heavyweight, I needed to do more body-building type stuff.”
The bulked-up fighter arrived in Greece at the weight of 102kg, but would still be competing against experienced heavyweights who were pushing 150kg. “These guys are monsters, they're massive” he says.
His speed and fitness eclipsed his competitors’ strength and physicality on the way to a silver medal. Only Azerbaijani Judo legend, Ilham Zakiyev, stood in the way of that elusive gold.
After a ninth-placed finish in Beijing and a late injury denied him of a final farewell in London, the two-time Paralympic medallist decided to retire in 2011. He wasn’t finished inspiring people, though.
He decided to share his inspirational story, knowledge and experience for a living by taking up a career as a motivational speaker.
Since switching his focus from sport to speaking, the retired Paralympian has spoke in highly prestigious venues such as the Oxford Union.
His perfect blend of humour, wisdom and insight has engaged thousands of people across the country.
Despite winning a plethora of medals and accolades from an illustrious sporting career, it’s inspiring other people to be better that really makes Ian Rose proud.
In his own words, he wants to be remembered as the person “that inspired other people to just want to be their best”.
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