LACHLAN Moorhead had an operation on his hip last week, his second surgery of 2024, and is now hoping to prove himself as one of the best in the world after injuries cost him a place at this year’s Olympic Games.

A week before this year’s World Championships, in May, where his qualification for the Paris Olympics would be decided, Lachlan suffered a serious injury in a competition in Tajikistan – dislocating and fracturing his elbow while tearing muscles off his forearm and snapping a ligament.

The 24-year-old from Penistone ‘kept it quiet’ and ‘strapped it up like crazy’ then competed in the World Championships in Abu Dhabi but lost in the second round and missed out on the Olympics by one place.

He then had surgery on his elbow in July and, after recovering from that, has had a further operation last week on a hip problem which has been troubling him since January of last year.

Lachlan said: “It feels so good to have it sorted.

“I had a labral tear in my hip and a snapped ligament. They shaved away quite a lot of bone as well.

“I should have had surgery on it straight away but I was pushing so hard for Paris.

“I’ve been a mess.

“I haven’t been able to run properly for cardio or squat to lift weights for nearly two years. Once I can do that again regularly and train to my full abilities, I think I will be up there with the top lads in the world.

“I was one place away from the Olympics with one arm and one hip, so that’s a positive I can focus on.

“I just want to show everyone what I can do with a working body.”

Lachlan is hoping to compete in the European Championships and World Championships next year.

“It might be ambitious but I am hoping to be competing again at the end of January. I’d like to go to Georgia again and train with some of the top lads out there.

“Being fully fit will let me make the changes I need to make to have a chance to go really far in the Europeans and World Championships.”

The following year, Lachlan will look to retain the gold medal he won at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham when the event returns to the UK in Glasgow.

There were fears it would be cancelled after Victoria in Australia pulled out of hosting the games but the 2026 edition will go ahead with a stripped down schedule of just ten sports compared to 19 in Birmingham.

Lachlan said: “Judo has made the cut and I was worried it wouldn’t.

“I didn’t think the whole thing would happen at one point but I am glad it is.

“It’s in the UK again so I should get a lot of support.

“It was great last time and I am looking forward to trying to win gold again.

“Because there aren’t many sports, I hope they go all out with it and all of them get a lot of coverage.”

The long-term aim is the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Lachlan said: “My goal is to medal in LA. Injuries cost me getting to Paris but that’s part of the game – it’s a fighting sport. I feel like, now I have had these operations, I can be one of the best in the world and, with four years to prepare, I just want to keep climbing up the rankings and get more experience at the top level so I am really ready for those Olympics.”