European Games
The judokas are the last to enter the third European Games in Poland and complete their competition in just one day. Austria is fighting for a team European Championship medal in Krynica-Zdroj, around two hours’ drive south-west of Kraków. Michaela Polleres (class up to 70 kg) and Aaron Fara (this time +90 kg) lead the Austrian team, but they primarily have their individual ambitions in mind.
30.06.2023 22.30
Online since yesterday, 10.30 p.m
And these are already aimed at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Because Polleres can already plan for the summer games, the silver medalist from Tokyo 2021 recently made a decisive contribution, especially with World Cup bronze in Doha. The 25-year-old from Lower Austria can now thin out her competition calendar a bit. “Not every week in a competition. But we’re now making sure that I’ll be better placed (at the Olympics, note).” Specifically, it’s more about maintaining your ranking position three in order to be top seeded in the pool games.
Polleres already knows the Olympic Hall. Around the Paris Grand Slam tournament, she was one of the selected assets in February to inspect the 8,356 spectators Champ de Mars Arena. “The hall is right in front of the Eiffel Tower. It’s a great view,” said the athlete enthusiastically. The wrestlers will also fight there. After the event, the arena will be dismantled to be used elsewhere.
GEPA/Christian Moser Shamil Borchashvili wants to build on his good performances at the European Games
ÖJV team hopes for another Olympic place
Four active players from the Austrian Association (ÖJV) would currently be qualified for the games with Polleres, Lubjana Piovesana (-63 kg), Shamil Borchashvili (-81) and Fara (-100). That would not be enough for a start in the Olympic mixed competition, since six active people are needed. But if a fifth spot were added, Red-White-Red could hope for an additional spot. Then not only would the team competition be fixed, the qualification achieved via this track would also entitle you to compete in the respective individual competition.
Behind Polleres and the Olympic bronze medalist Borchashvili (7th), Fara is currently the third best Austrian in his association as 16th in the Olympic rankings. At the European Games he moves up to the open class and sees an advantage against the chunks weighing up to 140 kg: “I’m quicker. And the 100s (up to 100 kg, note) are harder than the Plusers (+100 kg, note). We’ve been trained harder and we’re doing harder judo – a lot of people can’t handle that.” The next highlight for him and Polleres is the Masters in Budapest in early August, which is only open to the elite.