Wrestling: Bitten by the Games bug

By CHRIS RATTUE

Martin Liddle had to wait almost the length of the Games before he got his chance to grapple with his first Olympics.

The 54kg freestyle wrestler from Papakura made it to the mat on Thursday after sitting through a bye in his pool.

The result: a 0 - 10 defeat to Namig Abdullayev from Azerbaijan, the predominantly Muslim European country north of Iran.

It was a daunting experience, but Liddle remains undaunted in his wrestling quests on international stages.

"I got a bit scared with all the lights on me," he said at the Exhibition Halls at Darling Harbour.

"It was the biggest match of my life and my first big international tournament. It was a bit scary.

"I'm just not used to the crowds and the hype of the Olympics. The adrenalin was flowing."

The loss put Liddle out of the main event but already his sights are set on the next Commonwealth and Olympic Games.

He got to Sydney on a shoestring budget, qualifying by winning the Oceania championships in Melbourne.

The fitter and turner was given unpaid leave by his employer Papakura Engineering - who also gave him some sponsorship money - to train in Canada for three months before the Games.

The 22-year-old sold his car, scouted around to find other small sponsorships, and used some of his savings.

It's a scenario he is going to get used to. Competition is limited in New Zealand, and he needs to regularly wrestle with international opponents.

He is hoping to arrange full-time training again in Canada or the United States.

"It was tough, very tough," Liddle said of his Olympic debut. "I've competed in Sydney and Melbourne before the Games but these are the Olympics, the very elite. They're all professionals. In places like Russia they train them up from a very young age.

"I'm also very young for this sport. I wanted to see my results here and what it was like. It hasn't put me off. It's fired my enthusiasm."