KATZ Nathan

General
RIO DISAPPOINTMENT FUELS TOKYO FIRE
At the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro he was beaten in the round of 32 of the -66kg category, which he said fuelled his ambition to win gold at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. "My goal is to be an Olympic champion. It was painful to lose, and I never want that feeling at an Olympic Games again. It hurts you. Walking onto the mat was the best feeling in the world, but after you lose, you realise your Olympic dream of winning a medal has been put on hold. We went in with a clear plan and I went away from it for 30 seconds and didn't close out the fight the way I needed to. It was tough because the competition really opened up and a few people I thought I'm capable of beating ended up fighting for medals." (dailytelegraph.com.au, 09 Aug 2016)

UNEXPECTED OLYMPIC SPOT
His place at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo was confirmed in July 2021 following a quota reallocation. "That quota position got reallocated to me so I'm thrilled. That's probably one advantage with the limited preparation: my body actually feels quite good and my mind is really refreshed. It's almost as if you're playing a video game and someone pulls the power out and then they plug you back in and you can keep playing. That's the way I feel and I'm excited to keep working and make every day count that I've got left and leave it all over there. It's not how I envisaged going to Tokyo, it's not the way I planned on qualifying, but if you can get on the podium, no one remembers how you got there." (sportingnews.com, 16 Jul 2021)

BROTHERS APART
In 2016 he and his brother Josh Katz became the first pair of brothers to represent Australia in judo at the same Olympic Games. He says that despite Josh missing out on the 2020 Games in Tokyo, his brother helped him in his bid to compete at the 2020 Games. "He [Josh] was stoked [when Nathan's spot in Tokyo was confirmed]. Our dream has always been attached. We've never been competitive in one of us doing better than the other. It's about both of us - we wanted to get that Olympic medal for Australia. He's had some injuries too, but he jumped straight back on the mat to help me prepare, so I'm very grateful and lucky for him. I wish there was a way we could both compete, but he's young and he'll be back. I think that's a really big motivating factor for me - the fact that he can't be there [in Tokyo] to compete. I know exactly how I felt after Rio when that didn't go my way, so I'll be doing everything possible not to leave Japan feeling the same way that I did leaving Brazil." (sportingnews.com, 16 Jul 2021)

JUDO IN THE BLOOD
Despite his parents' background in international judo, he says he and younger brother Josh were never forced into the sport. "We certainly started judo because of our parents. But there was never any pressure, just positive encouragement. There are days when it's tough, especially when we were young and in school and had to get up at 06:00 to go training or whatever, but I was never forced out of bed or anything like that." (huffingtonpost.com.au, 18 Jun 2016; Parramatta Advertiser, 22 Jun 2016)

He and his brother Josh Katz became the first pair of brothers to represent Australia in judo at the same Olympic Games, when they competed at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. (cmbt.com.au, 01 Sep 2020; budokan-judo-club.com, 01 Jul 2021; rio2016.olympics.com.au, 24 Jun 2016)