Talented Judo competitor Dimitri Giantsios is making waves in the martial art, recently winning the bronze medal at the Junior Oceana Cup in Perth.
The 18-year-old judo fighter, who is still only in his second year of practice in the sport, won three out of four matches in the Perth tournament earlier this month.
Dimitri competed in the Junior Men’s – 73 kg category and his three victories all came with ippon (“one full point”), which is the highest score a fighter can achieve.
The young judo artist lost his only match to Luke Davies, the world number nine player from Britain, who eventually went on to win the gold medal.
Dimitri represented Australia at the event and impressed everyone with his display, particularly his coaching team that consists of Joe Costanzo (national coach), Morgan Endicott-Davies (his coach at Zenbu Judo Club) and his father.
Mr Endicott-Davies, who founded the club where Dimitri has trained and learned his judo skills, notably competed for Australia in judo at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 (finishing ninth), giving an indication of the pedigree of the staff developing the talented judo star.
The future looks bright for Dimitri and there is a chance that he could participate in future tournaments overseas, with Europe looming as a realistic possibility for him.