Almudena Muñoz, judo as a birthday present

Juan was what is fondly described in families as a ‘little junk’. Benjamin of four brothers had already been to the hospital to have his eyebrow sutured or because he had broken his arm. His mother decided to sign him up for judo at a neighborhood gym, to see if he would burn off any leftover energy. He went with other children from the farm, in his case accompanied by his mother and Almudena, a year and a half older than him.

The ten-year-old girl was captivated from the first moment by the sport that her brother practiced on those mats they called ‘tatami’. So much so that every afternoon she asked her mother to let her try: “Please, please!” Faced with her refusals, after weeks of blowing out the eleven candles, she had an idea: “Mom, what if it’s my birthday present?” She agreed and they went together to buy the first judogi and the white belt. That day, without knowing it, Almudena Muñoz was born, who would be one of the great pioneers of judo and sport in Spain. She would win the historic Olympic gold in Barcelona 92, seasoned with the European title and silver in the World Cup, both the following year.

He does not keep that judogi, but he does keep the successes and a life always linked to sport. “I try to enjoy each stage, always remembering the good times,” says Almudena Muñoz. Like the training in the old riverbed, when it was not even remotely the jewel in the crown of the City of Running. «He went down to run when he did the physical part, but it was not what he is now. There were reeds and mud, people saw you and asked you: ‘Baby, what are you doing? Are you crazy?’” she recalls. She didn’t have running shoes either: “We didn’t even change them every 6 months. I think I always used the same ones. This is how my feet are now, with osteoarthritis!”

He was part of a generation of sports pioneers who often worked by trial and error. Like when he broke his knee in 1989, on the eve of the World Cup in Yugoslavia. He operated on Enrique Gastaldi and his recovery was done with his physical trainer, also a judoka Carlos Torres. «He ran in the dunes, on slopes in the mountains, he did exercises with a medicine ball…», lists Almudena Muñoz: «At that time there was a theory that he had to dedicate himself exclusively to sport. But I have always believed that you have to have a plan B. Just in case. I did not know if he could return ».

He took advantage of the year of injury to study. He started Teaching, although he parked it to prepare some oppositions to Bancaixa, where he was to join in 1992. «I had qualified for the Games. It had been complicated and my idea was to retire later, so I asked to start working when I came back from Barcelona », he explains. The gold suited him so well that he decided to continue competing. When he changed banking for his administrative position in the City Council, the doors were opened to him to combine working life with elite sport.

There she continues, in La Petxina, where dozens of kids work daily, now with better facilities, for the dream she pursued and achieved in the 90s. Together with Carlos Torres, who has been a life partner more than a physical trainer. They have had two children, of whom Almudena Muñoz speaks with admiration, without erasing her smile. She continues to enjoy sports, now as a family, for example on snow breaks or on bike rides from San Antonio de Benagéber to La Calderona.

Almudena Muñoz, on the podium of Barcelona 92. / efe/nazario sierra

European gold and world silver

Valencia. The city where he was born on November 4, 1968. He started judo at the age of 11.

Barcelona 92. She won the gold medal in -52 kilos by beating Japanese Noriko Mizogouchi in the final. She in Atlanta she achieved an Olympic diploma. She fought for the bronze but they gave it to her rival in a controversial decision

His best moment. A year after the Olympic gold, she won the European Championships in Athens and was a silver medalist at the World Championships in Hamilton.

injuries. He suffered a knee injury in 1989. He retired in 1997, having suffered a shoulder injury two years earlier which did not prevent him from going to the Atlanta Games.

Administrative. She currently works at the La Petxina Complex. She also began her studies as a teacher.