Summer Shaw wins Commonwealth judo bronze then returns to McDonald's job

Summer Shaw, 22, won Scotland's first judo medal at the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow — a bronze in the 48kg event secured on the last Friday of the Games — and was back at her part-time job at McDonald's the following week. A five-second TikTok she posted about returning to work, which she made "for funsies", has been viewed more than one million times.

Shaw, who qualifies to represent Scotland through her father's side of the family, said the medal was the fulfilment of a childhood ambition she had from the age of eight. The judoka has largely been based in Birmingham while studying for a biology degree, placing her close to the British Judo Olympic and Paralympic National Training Centre in Walsall. After the Games she returned to the family home in Surrey and to the part-time McDonald's role she took on while studying for her A-levels.

Reacting to the online attention, Shaw recalled a conversation that prompted her TikTok: "Someone said to me: 'It's crazy that you can win a Commonwealth medal and then come back to work.'" She said the clip was posted "for funsies" and that, after it went viral, "People were asking: 'How is this possible?' " and "They were like: 'This shouldn't be allowed.'"

On the podium, Shaw described the experience in personal terms: "It's so cool when it's something you've dreamed of doing since you were eight years old - and suddenly you're there," she told BBC Sport. "To get there was crazy, and to come away with a medal was even better."

Shaw said her McDonald's employer had accommodated her judo commitments: "They've been really flexible with me, letting me work when I can. They've been really good with me," she said, adding that the position is "mostly seasonal because my job's back at home, but when I am back it is like two, three shifts a week." She also noted the difficulty many athletes face finding similarly flexible work, saying: "It's hard to find jobs like it though that are flexible with your hours. I've heard from other people in their part-time jobs saying their boss won't give them the weekend off."

Addressing the finances of elite judo, Shaw said: "Obviously there's football, Formula One… but I can't think of many more sports where it is a case of 'you've hit the top level and now you're financially settled'." She is supported by an 'Athlete Performance Award' (APA), a grant from UK Sport and the National Lottery "that contributes towards her living and training costs," and explained it is "very common" for athletes in sports such as judo to have additional income. "The money I get [APA] covers my living expenses, which is a blessing and not to be taken for granted," she said, adding: "I'm also a normal person! Like, I want to save for a house." Shaw said she had paid her own way to a recent competition: "For example, the next competition I've paid for myself because it wasn't funded by British Judo. 'Going to Peru [for the Grand Prix] has cost me quite a bit of money and then I'm not really getting that back from anywhere else.'"

Sponsorship, Shaw said, would transform her options: she described it as a "game-changer" and added: "It just means you can take every single opportunity… put it towards competitions that I don't get funded." She also reflected on the personal value of her McDonald's job: "I've met so many of my close friends there, and my boyfriend! So I owe a lot of good things in my life to that McDonald's," and acknowledged that commercial support would allow her to be "more selective, rather than thinking 'I really should work because I've got a competition coming up and I don't want it to take a hit to my bank account'."

At the start of the year Shaw launched a GoFundMe page to help fund her campaign for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, a step she has taken to try to cover costs that are not provided through British Judo or her existing support.