THERE is a sense of unfinished business at the Commonwealth Games for Eoin Fleming who is preparing for a return to the Games in Birmingham.

The 27-year-old was oh-so-close to the podium at the 2014 edition in Glasgow, posting a fifth-place finish just outside the medals after a defeat to Jacques van Zyl from South Africa in the medal match, but this time he intends to return home with an extra piece of luggage.

Fleming didn’t compete at the 2018 Games in Australia, but has not been resting on his laurels, since becoming a full-time judoka based in Edinburgh where he honed his skills, readying himself for these Games where he feels he is in his peak.

Results on the international circuit have followed with bronze medal at the African Open in Dakar in 2021, plus silver medal at the African Open in Yaounde last year.

Fleming - who is also an accomplished Gaelic footballer with O’Donovan Rossa GAC - recently took part in the European Championships and ramped up preparations for Birmingham at a two-week training camp in Mongolia, so feels he is ready to make up for the near miss at Glasgow when he hits the mat in the 81kg category.

“I’m excited as I haven’t been at the Commonwealths since Glasgow,” he said.

“I took fifth there as a junior but this time I want to go the extra step and I hope all the preparation pays off. That (2014) showed me that I was ready for that next step.

“I moved to Edinburgh and was training full time there and when the NIPP (NI Judo Performance Plan) came in, it gave me a lot of opportunities to travel more and I have been waiting for this opportunity to correct what went wrong.

“I know I put in a good performance in Glasgow and despite going in young, I felt it was an opportunity missed and that his something I’m really looking forward to correcting.

“It’s judo and anything can happen, but I know the work we’re putting in.”

Back in 2014, Fleming was a full-time student at Queen’s University and while the move to full-time judo didn’t produce immediate results, the corner has been turned with those medals won last year.

He credits the work put into him by his coaches as the reason why he has began to come and at a perfect time with such a huge opportunity ahead.

“The results didn’t come as quick as I’d hoped when I went full-time, but that’s just judo, just sport,” he reflected.

“Things can be up and down, especially at high performance where it’s never a straight line.

“Working with Ciaran Ward, my coach, and Gary Longwell at SINI have been able to keep my head on the right track, to keep trusting the process and working hard.

“The results been starting to come and I’m just looking forward to this opportunity.”

Doubts persisted as to whether these Games would actually take place earlier this year with Covid-19 still at large, but those concerns were erased and it’s all-systems go ahead.

Still, the disruption caused by lockdowns meant that Fleming and his team-mates were forced to sit out the initial stages of restrictions, but as elite athletes, were the first to return to full training and then competition that has helped get them ready for the challenges ahead.

Trusting the process is a key factor for any athlete and Fleming is no different as he has seen the results begin to come and that instills confidence for what lies ahead.

“We were lucky to have the NIPP programme as we could work away at the Institute here and Ciaran could get us back once elite athletes were allowed to return,” he recalled.

“Although we couldn’t travel to compete or for training camps, from July 2020 we were back on the mat.

“It was good we had that ability to train because when you’re off the mat that long, your head’s wrecked although everyone is in the same boat as we can’t do what we love and dedicate our lives to. We were lucky we could come back and had a lot of people giving us the support.

“When the camps opened up, we developed a great relationship with a centre in Valencia so could use that a lot.

“After the Olympic cycle ended, there was the opportunity for the next group to come through and we all went off, competed and did well at the Continental Open in Africa where we brought back a couple of medals.

“That brought more trust in the programme we have here and everyone is now looking to fight for a medal.”

Medalling is the overall goal this time around, but then it is also the ambition of all who will compete at the Games.

The 81kg category is laced with top-level competitors who will all be vying for glory, and Fleming is aware he has a very tough task to reach his goal. Still, he has full belief in himself that on his day, he can get the better of anyone.

That is the case for all in an ultra-competitive weight-class and Fleming notes how the event played out in Glasgow when, fighting in the lightweight division, it was New Zealand, Australia and South Africa who would finish behind England’s Daniel Williams.

“Judo is so global, the second biggest in the world for participation behind soccer, and the World Championships have over 150 countries,” he explained.

“My weight category has multiple Grand Slam medallists - the top level in judo.

“The Canadians have four or five at my weight who could win a medal but they’ll probably send two. England have very strong players at my weight, same with Scotland.

“There are a couple from Australia and New Zealand who are always there or thereabouts so anyone can come through, but I back myself and the work we are doing.

“If I stick to the plan, there is nobody there who I wouldn’t feel I could come out on top, so it’s just about trusting myself and not worrying about the draw.

“My weight category in Glasgow was England on top, then three traditionally lesser countries on the podium. It just comes down to who performs on that day and I’m determined to have that day in August.”

Success would certainly make up for what happened in Glasgow and this time around, Fleming - whose introduction to the sport game through his father, Sean - is aware of the environment he is stepping into.

The multi-sport aspect to the Commonwealth Games means there is greater exposure and with that, scrutiny.

That can bring a lot of added pressure, but he has been there and done it, so there will be no surprises this time around and he believes that experience will help him concentrate on the job at hand and forget out the outside noise.

“I don’t think I was overawed,” he reflected of the Glasgow experience.

“There was a break between my early fights and the medal fight, so we left the competition venue and went back to the village.

“A lot of people came over wanting to talk to you and it was hard to being yourself away from it, whereas a normal judo competition you are able to sit in the warm-up area with your teammates and that’s different.

“I’m aware of that now and know that will happen, know there will be media attention and know people will be wishing you luck - doing the things you would want to do yourself - so I have that experience now and eight years on I have done the hard time and I’m ready to build on what happened before.”