Amid global panic and uncertainty about dates and the immediate future, it is comforting to hear a voice like that of Jennifer Fernández, who knows exactly what his schedule is. The boxer from Granada faces the European Pre-Olympic in the Copper Box hoping to get the ticket for the Games 2020 Tokyo OlympicsAlthough he is aware that if he does not succeed in this assault, he will have another bullet in the chamber with the World Cup qualifier that will host Paris from May 13 to 25.
But, first things first and the boxer assures that the preparation has been very good and goes to all in the English capital, where a place in the top six of his weight (less than 57 kilos) would give him a direct passport to the quintessential sporting event that Japan is hosting this summer, if nothing changes.
The grenadine arrived in London on Tuesday with the other ten members of the Spanish team (seven men and three women counting Jennifer Fernández) who are looking for the Olympic dream. On Friday they will see the painting and the stones on the way to a competition that will last ten days, starting this Saturday the 14th and ending next Tuesday the 24th. The national team led, by the way, by an Olympic medalist like the Cordovan Rafael Lozano accompanied by Carlos Peñate.
Fernández changed his life completely to move from Granada to Madrid as an internal athlete in the High Performance Center from the Joaquín Blume Residence of the CSD. One of so many sacrifices for a fighter who is having a great season, with experiences across the European continent and important victories such as the Odivelas Cup in Portugal, where she was advised from the corner by Granada coach Víctor Segura, a person at the he owes a lot in his boxing career.
A long preparation
“It has been a long preparation,” Jennifer ‘Bam Bam’ admits to this newspaper, who assures that these seven months of effort can pay off for the national team in London, where Spanish boxers María González (51 kilos) and Melissa will also be. González (60 kilos). “It is a great opportunity, we are very prepared to get the ticket to Tokyo, which is definitely the dream of any athlete, to go to the Olympic Games, “says the fugitive from Granada who points to the predictions of the president of the Spanish Boxing Federation (FEB), Felipe Martínez, convinced that there will be a record of participants in Japan.
“The Federation has increased work, both in men and women, expanding the number of pesos,” explains Fernández, who also sees how Andalusian women’s boxing is hitting hard. “In recent years there has been growth, before we went straight to the Spanish Championship because there were no previous crosses in Andalusia and now we must start the qualifying rounds at least in the quarterfinals because there is a lot of equality and young girls who are getting betters “.
With respect to change introduced in olympic boxing, which allows professionals to reach the appointment through qualifiers, does not see it as something negative. In fact, the Spanish champion Miriam Gutiérrez ‘La Reina’ looks for this dream of Tokyo as a young woman at 37 amateur. And it is that for the grenadine the important thing is that boxing sounds beyond its close surroundings, the stalwarts of the family and the friends who follow all their steps.
“It is important that there is support“, indicates in reference to the sponsors and institutions,” that they know about us, that they even know that they can see it – there is an Olympic channel that broadcasts it in Spain – because that possibility exists, “he says. And it is that, despite the worldwide chaos, there is a grenadine who dreams with her feet on the ground and her fists on guard.
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