That was the assessment of current Pinewood Judo Club head coach Mark Fricker who took over from Werner when he died earlier this year.

Former Emmbrook School pupil Fletcher claimed gold in the Under 70kg event in Glasgow by defeating New Zealand’s Moira de Villiers.

And the Ippon move she used to secure a 1-0 victory came straight out of Werner’s coaching manual.

Werner was 81 when he lost his battle with cancer earlier this year having coached a string of Olympic and Commonwealth greats at Pinewood including Nicola Fairbrother and Georgina Singleton.

And Fricker believes that Fletcher’s gold medal proves Werner’s spirit still lives on.

He told the News: “Megan’s success filled all of us from Pinewood with great pride. It’s all we have been talking about for the last couple of days.

“The lovely cream on the cake was the fact the technique she used to win the final was a classic Pinewood one pioneered by Don and still drilled into our students every session at the club.

“Evidence, if we needed it, that the Werner DNA is still alive in all of us. The only regret is that Don was not around to see it, he would have been so proud of her.” Fletcher, 24, was taught by the seven-Dan Sensei Werner at Pinewood in Crowthorne.

The Team England judo player had suffered a nasty injury to her nose in her semi-final clash with Scotland’s Sally Conway who is ranked sixth in the world.

But Fletcher held her nerve to win the fight to add to her victory over Alix Renaud-Roy of Canada in her first contest.

She then claimed gold in a closely-contested final and fought back the tears when interviewed afterwards.

Fletcher said: “My coach died earlier this year. He helped me so much. Everything I do now is because of him.

“He taught me everything. I will always be grateful of him. I hope he will be proud of me. He produced many Olympic, world medallist and commonwealth champions.” Fletcher now lives in Bristol and works as a geography teacher. Fricker added: “Megan is one of the most modest and unassuming characters imaginable and it is good to see that good people can finish first.” Fletcher was cheered on in Glasgow by younger brother, Ben, after he was forced to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games through injury. He was due to fight in the Under 100kg category.

Ascot-born Euan Burton was Scotland’s flagbearer in the Commonwealth Games and secured gold in the 100kg class.

Meanwhile, Pinewood Judo Club fighters won the inaugural Don Werner Memorial Championship.

A host of fighters, many of whom were coached by Werner, secured the top-club trophy at High Wycombe.

Fittingly, Werner’s daughter, Kerry, and his two granddaughters were present at the competition along with numerous ex-international Pinewood stars including Nicola Fairbrother, Karen Roberts and Georgina Singleton.

And they looked on with pride as Pinewood’s fighters secured the trophy by a comfortable 27-point margin ahead of Bishops Stortford in second and Devizes in third.

Coaches Fricker and Geoffrey Torrington were delighted to see the trophy carrying the legendary Werner’s name brought back to where it belongs – at Pinewood.

Gold medal winners: Wade Muttit (Under 34kg); Kiera Bateman (U48kg); Caitlyn Clark (U52kg) and Crissie Webb (U70kg).

Silver medal winners: Noah Jones (Under 30kg); Declan Whyte (U42kg); Terri Gough (U44kg); Holly Eccles (U44kg); James Widman (U46kg) and James Ferre.

Bronze medal winners: Tobias Chapman (U27kg); Alfie Flint (U27kg); Isaac Young (U30kg); Callum Jones (U38kg); Dan Franklin (U38kg); Charlie Howell (U73kg) and Andrew Miamoto.