Today the 32-year-old mother of three is a two-time jiu jitsu world champion and Olympic wrestling aspirant but, before that, came dark times for the woman known as the Barkindji Warrior.

“At 18-19 I was looking into martial arts because I was quite a bad-tempered young person and just by virtue of the way I grew up I would always defend myself with my hands and that was leading me down the wrong path,” Thompson recalls.

“I started messing around with jiu jitsu and that’s how I met my partner George at 20 but I didn’t start to take things seriously until after the birth of my twins [in 2009]. I developed post-partum depression and I became suicidal. I needed to find a way to work toward recovery from that because I didn’t want to go on medication. It just didn’t feel like the right path for me.

“I started training jiu-jitsu and after a couple of months I started competing. After a while, I needed another level of challenge and thought I’d like to have a crack at being a world champion. I’d never been an elite level athlete before so this was the first time. 

“Being an older female athlete with kids and that sort of thing, people were a little bit skeptical. That kind of lit the fire in me and I wanted to have a go at it, push myself and see what was really possible.”

Thompson went on to win back to back super-heavyweight purple belt world titles, the most recent coming in June this year. She’s now in the midst of a transition to wrestling that she hopes can put her in the frame to represent Australia at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and ultimately the Tokyo Olympics in four years time.

A self-described “top game player” in jiu jitsu, Thompson has made quick work of the transition at national level, winning Australian and Oceania titles, but it was at elite training camps in Canada and Africa – with whom Australia is grouped for Olympic qualification proved eye-opening.

“I ended up fighting girls from Cameroon and Nigeria and got an absolute flogging but it was exciting,” Thompson said.

“I was excited because I’d never been so thoroughly thrashed before. The strength they had, the skill...I was excited by it. 

“Most people would say it’s not realistic, it’s not logical. Australia has only ever had one female Olympian in wrestling but I’ve always liked to see what is possible rather than looking at why it can’t be done

“I’m showing my kids and anyone else that you don’t have to let your age or circumstances define you.”

And she’s sharing more than just her story, making 10-hour car trips from her home in Melbourne as she completes an Indigenous Trauma and Recovery Practices course at the University of Wollongong, a field in which she plans to specialise.

“Inspiration is great but it’s temporary,” Thompson said.

“I want to help give people actual skills and tools to begin to heal themselves and not only survive their trauma but to thrive and become creators of their own life.”