Terry Watt was Derry’s first judo black belt holder, the city’s first judo international and the first judoka from Northern Ireland to represent Great Britain – and competed in the men’s judo at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games as one of Ireland’s five pioneering judoka, the first time Ireland had entered the sport at the Olympics.

From the Creggan Estate in Derry, Watt spent his first eleven years in Leman Gardens – a Protestant boy in the predominantly Catholic estate where religious differences were, in his own recollection, of little consequence.

Inspired by Ken Walton’s wrestling programmes on ITV, he took up judo through a letter from an emigrant friend, purchasing his judogi before finding a club to join.

A member of the Ko-saka Judo Club coached by Bobby Brady and Hugh McCann, he progressed rapidly and won a bronze medal at the 1968 World University Championships, a British University title, and medals at the German Open.

He studied at Trinity College Dublin – described in a Trinity News profile as ‘slim, attractive, intelligent, self-effacing … more like a little cat than a hulking bear’ – captaining the college’s judo team before graduating in 1970.

In Munich he faced Alex Bijerk of Australia. Like several teammates, Watt felt the absence of the Closing Ceremony keenly when the Irish management sent the team home as scheduled – it remains ‘one of the great regrets of his sporting life.’ He subsequently won a World Masters title in Canada in 1999 and continues to promote the concept internationally.