New Zealand's judo team have had a historic morning in Coventry, winning two bronze medals and a silver to add to Aotearoa's tally at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
Kody Andrews wrapped up the morning with a silver medal in the men's +100kg category after a hard-fought final with Canada's Marc Deschenes.
Deschenes managed to mount Andrews early in the fight and despite multiple attempts by Andrews to escape, he eventually went do via two waza-ari.
Andrews told 1News he was a little "annoyed" with how the final went but took it as a positive that he now had things to go home and work on.
"I'm going to sit down with my coach and map out what's ahead," he said.
"I might aim for the Olympics or World Championships... but I'm just going to enjoy this moment first."
Earlier, Moira De Villiers beat Cameroon's Ayuk Otay Arrey Sophina via ippon in the contest at Coventry Arena on Thursday morning - the first of three Kiwis contesting medal fights.
After a an aggressive opening from Arrey Sophina, de Villiers managed to take control of the match and pin her opponent to the ground before locking up her arm and forcing the Cameroonian to tap.
"I just needed to get into a little bit of a dogfight," de Villiers told 1News.
"She's quite aggressive in the start so I just needed to weather that storm and then she'd go down and she just didn't have the gas tank.
"I just had to keep working, keep pushing and I got it."
"I wanted the gold but it just wasn't meant to be but I just knew that I needed to get this win for my family, for my friends and for New Zealand," she said.
With her family - including husband Jason Koster who also competed in judo in Birmingham - in the stands, de Villiers said she had the extra energy she needed to claim the bronze.
"Without them, this isn't possible," the 32-year-old added.
"This is why I do it."
Following de Villiers' win, Sydnee Andrews took to the tatami mats in a bronze medal contest for the women's over-78kg category against Northern Ireland's Sarah Hawkes.
It was a “good, hard, strong fight”, she said of her victory over Northern Ireland’s Sarah Hawkes. (Source: Breakfast)
Andrews came out aggressive in the bout and managed to take control early, leading to a comprehensive win in the end via two waza-ari.
The 19-year-old told 1News she wanted to take the fight to Hawkes.
"I knew she was going to give everything so I wanted t ogive everything - it was a good, hard, strong fight," Andrews said.
"But I knew as soon as she started to fall, I knew I had it. It was unbelievable."
The trio of medallists said they were proud to add to New Zealand's campaign in Birmingham - but also raise the status of their sport back in Aotearoa.
"It just shows that we're doing the hard yards whether we're at home or abroad," de Villiers said.
"We can get it done."
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