The judo athlete from Sutton Coldfield won -70kg bronze in front of her entire family at Birmingham 2022, a stone’s throw from where she grew up.
A Second Shot at Glory
There is no better place to win a medal alongside your best friend than at the Commonwealth Games, according to Kelly Petersen-Pollard. The 27-year-old is hoping to recreate the magic of Birmingham 2022 by standing on the podium alongside close friend and teammate Emma Reid at Glasgow 2026.
Winning a medal at her first Games was only made better by watching her best friend Emma Reid bag gold in the -78kg category. Petersen-Pollard is keen to replicate that double medal-winning feeling this summer.
Friendship and Competition
"We have our spats and we have our great moments," Petersen-Pollard said. "But we share rooms together every trip and even at training we'll push each other. Most of the time, when one's down, the other one is trying to bring the other one up, and the other way around. The best feeling is if we can medal at the same competition."
She added: "We've only done that a handful of times but that feeling is just so good when you're bringing the medal back into the room together. We're going to try to do that more often."
Training partners at the British Judo centre in Walsall, both have now been officially confirmed as part of Team England’s squad at Glasgow 2026, two of six returning judokas from last time named. Their close friendship extends beyond the mat. The pair even set off from a busy Team England media day a few hours early to go and watch The Weeknd in Manchester together.
Confidence and Preparation
Selection now confirms what Petersen-Pollard already knew of her ability, with a silver at the Dushanbe Grand Slam, one of judo’s premier events, last season placing her as one of England's top performers.
"I am really happy, obviously I could see it happening but it is really nice when you get the actual email," she said. "It gives you that final excitement and coming together as a full team is really nice because no one knew who was selected."
She continued: "We go away in a few weeks to compete in China and Japan and then it's only a couple of weeks until the Games and so it is really exciting. I feel so much more relaxed than last time. I've done it before and so I know when to lock in more than last time so it should be a lot more fun."
A Different Approach
Fun is a key aspect of Petersen-Pollard's run-in to this summer's Games, having felt the strain of being a Birmingham athlete at a Birmingham Games four years ago. Instead she is staying away from the spotlight this year and ready to focus on enjoying her performance.
"I'm definitely very different this summer," she added. "I think I hadn't felt pressure like that before. I think because I did all the media for it, it was like quite a lot and it was at home. I felt like the poster girl really. So I think that brought a lot of pressure on myself and then I didn't quite perform as well as I could have."
"So I'm being more like low-key about this one. I'm a bit more disengaged with all the social media and then hoping to just go without as much pressure and do a good performance really."
Team England are Ready to Win at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Keep up to date on teamengland.org.
