The judokas of the Spanish team are still unable to train with grips and ask the authorities to allow them to resume their activity.
Jesús Ortiz / dxtadaptado.com
With two meters of separation on the tatami, each one working in their delimited grid to comply with social distancing and without tactics or strategies to bring down the opponent since they are prohibited from contact. With this post-covid panorama, the athletes of the Spanish judo team for the blind have been training at the High Performance Center in Madrid for almost 11 weeks. Sergio Ibáñez, Borja Pahissa and the brothers Álvaro and Daniel Gavilán are having a hard time since the authorities do not allow them to fully resume their activity, where grip is the idiosyncrasy of this sport.
“At first we could understand it, the pandemic was hitting hard and the situation was delicate. But it is not logical that the most important CAR in the country will not let us do judo after two and a half months, with the strict sanitary measures and protocols that we have. It’s absurd, we have had two PCR tests done and we tested negative. In other places such as the Valencian Community, Murcia or the Balearic Islands they do. Not to mention that you can party at a disco or have beers on a terrace, but not practice judo. Some forget that they are elite athletes who are fighting to be in the Games, ”explains the national coach, Alfonso de Diego.
Daniel and Álvaro Gavilán at the Georgia World Cup.
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Each day they work for four hours trying to replace the specific training of judo with physical circuits with running, weights and exercises with rings and bars in the gym. On the tatami they can only use rubber bands and hug dolls weighing about 20 kilos: “After being at home for three months, if they help you to remove the cobwebs and catch the tone, but then they are no longer valid, they need to fight with other colleagues. It is as if you take the pool from the swimmer or the ball from the footballer ”, insists the Spanish coach.
They do what they can on the tatami, but without touching or tripping. “The doll only helps us to knock it down, but in the end you get bored because they don’t put up any resistance. We are in an exceptional moment, but it is incongruous that they continue to prohibit us when in other disciplines they are in continuous contact and in the CAR we are very controlled. Of course, nothing is going to take away my desire to try to be in my second Paralympic Games. Before the state of alarm I was in great shape, I got a silver in the Georgia World Cup after beating the number two in the ranking – the Uzbek Feruz Sayidov. So I will go to that square for Tokyo, even if I have to wear a mask or a diving suit, “laughs Álvaro Gavilán, current world bronze in -73 kilos.
His brother Daniel, who also stood on the podium in Georgian territory before confinement, caught this break in the middle of a category change. “I am in the process of adapting to a new weight, -60 kilos, and to progress I need fighting. It is frustrating to see that rivals from other countries do train and they do not let you or how there are contacts between the soccer league players. We are also professionals. It is a step back, they are throwing stones on their own roof and then they will ask us for results in competitions. It is incoherent not being able to train with your partner, but going to have a drink with him at a bar ”, emphasizes the Madrilenian.
The judoka from Huelva Borja Pahissa.
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The Huelva-born Borja Pahissa (-60 kilos) is another judoka who takes this situation quite badly. “I still don’t understand that after passing PCR tests, testing negative and being interned in the CAR, they won’t let us catch ourselves even to do ‘Uchi-komi’, which is a routine that cannot be lacking in our preparation to practice the technique. Instead of moving forward we have taken steps backward. The agility that you had gained is lost, you feel slower and clumsier, you do not go deep well, in our sport contact is essential, that a rival makes it difficult for you. We are fighting to go to the Games and working very hard to achieve it, but we will not give 100% if we continue like this. There are other countries that already train and they will have that extra compared to us ”, he comments.
Sergio Ibáñez (-66 kilos) traveled to the Spanish capital a few days ago with the idea of being able to exercise with the rest of the national team, but he has not yet been able to practice his sport. “Of everything we are doing there is nothing that resembles training judo or that helps us to have feelings of grip on a judogi or the reactions of a teammate. If when you are on vacation for a week you already notice it, imagine if you have been there for almost six months. We are losing all the preparation that we have suffered since last summer, everything you have done seems worthless, “he laments.
Sergio Ibáñez and Alfonso de Diego.
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The Aragonese, runner-up in the world and European bronze, asserts that they feel abandoned. “They put many measures on you to control us, but they are not for the task of having contact. We have to row against the current because other countries are already working, but since we pursue goals and dreams, you do it with all your will. I feel sad, but this does not undermine my morale, I am doing everything possible to qualify for the Games and I am going to achieve it despite the obstacles, “he adds.
Another of those harmed is Marta Arce from Valladolid, who for family reasons cannot train with the group in the CAR: “I cannot go due to incompatibility of schedules, my partner works and my three children require a lot of attention. I train at home and go to my club in Las Rozas, where we are separated by more than two meters and we do work that has nothing to do with judo. Of course, my coach is giving us a beating every day, ”says the triple Paralympic medalist (silver in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 and bronze in London 2012). The Spanish coach hopes to bring three or four judokas to Tokyo. “The qualification period has been extended until the end of May 2021. In theory, there would be two scoring tests left, but we will have to wait for how the pandemic evolves in the rest of the world”, adds De Diego.
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