On my 24th birthday I fought a current world champion after only 1 year of training.
I ended up with a silver medal out of 4 girls and making team Canada.
I lost in the finals, nearly quit, actually ran to the garbage can to throw up in the middle of the 2nd round, and fell multiple times.
It was a life changing experience. Meeting the current world champ ignited a desire in me to be like her. I hardly spoke to her, but I was in absolute aw of her confidence and demeanor.
Challenges in my life felt less scary after competing in Nationals. Getting beat up that bad and feeling embarrassed has a way of motivating you. Even watching this footage now was hard for me, man I had no idea what I was doing... but I showed up and gave it my all with the skills I had at the time. Good job 24 year old Michelle!