Victor Gdowczok (33) from Cologne-Dellbrück has achieved something that he and his father could only dream of years ago.
At this year’s “Virtus Global Games” (international sports event for people with intellectual disabilities, autism and Down’s syndrome) in Vichy (France) he won the gold medal – and is now Judo World Champion.
Cologne: Dellbrücker celebrates world champion title in ID judo
Victor demonstrated his skills in ID Judo (“intellectual disabilities”). There competed in the class for judo fighters with Down syndrome.
Down syndrome, also known as “Trisomy 21”, is usually accompanied by various physical and mental limitations. In Victor’s childhood, these manifested themselves particularly in the form of problems with muscle strength and mobility.
Father Klaus still remembers well how his son struggled up the stairs with a limp at the age of eight. Nothing of that can be seen today.
Take part in the EXPRESS.de survey here:
Through friend Wolfgang Hofmann, an experienced judoka from Cologne, Victor got the chance to train at the traditional Cologne judo club SC Bushido – together with children without a physical handicap.
There he met his trainer Rupert Fehler (†). “He was 1.60 meters tall and just as wide, looked like Santa Claus,” Gdowczok describes him to the “Kölnische Rundschau”. With “Rupi”, as Victor called his coach, at his side, his path went uphill steeply.
By the time he was 10 he could walk up the stairs, and by the time he was 14 he started strength and conditioning training. After a few tournaments in North Rhine-Westphalia, he won bronze at the “European Open” in Amsterdam at the age of 17. After that, he creamed off some gold medals. In 2011 he placed fourth at the Special Olympics (sports movement for people with intellectual disabilities) in Athens. But his big goal remained: the black belt.
Cologne athlete fights for a special goal
For a long time, it seemed unattainable for athletes with disabilities. But Victor fought and became the first person in the world with Down Syndrome to earn a black belt according to the normal regulations for able-bodied people.
For the World Championships, Victor trained in the inclusive “VG project” founded by his father, in which several judokas with intellectual disabilities stand together on the mat. However, the project’s training facility was scrapped, and the training units had to be held at other locations without further ado – including on the banks of the Rhine and in various halls throughout NRW.
That was enough. Victor is world champion. However, a dream remains. “We would like ID-Judo to become a Paralympic sport, i.e. to be represented as a sport at the upcoming Paralympics,” says Klaus Gdowczok.
This text was created, edited and checked with the help of artificial intelligence. You can read more about our rules for dealing with AI here.
2023-08-07 04:40:45
#Cologne #Dellbrücker #judo #world #champion #fights #goal
