Elena Dengg has the medal dangling around her neck. Junior head coach Béla Riesz stands next to her and beams with the newly crowned U-21 World Cup bronze medalist. The 19-year-old from Salzburg speaks in the JUDO AUSTRIA interview about…
… your physical condition on the day of the competition: “Everyone has a cold at the moment, it caught me on Monday. I haven’t been able to train much since the European Championships in The Hague because of the knee collateral ligament injury. So I definitely wasn’t fit, but that’s what you’re used to as a judoka. If you want to be successful, you have to ignore it. I managed that quite well (with my knee) in The Hague and again this time. Fit would probably have been more possible in the semi-finals. Mayu (Honda, U-21 world champion) is not unbeatable either. I am convinced of that.”
… their consistency at major events: “Every medal gives you confidence. I already have five of them, three at the junior level. The U-21 World Cup was clearly the highlight of the season for me. On top of that, I was eliminated in round 3 last year. The U-21 World Cup medal was still missing from my collection. This is definitely my most valuable medal now.”
… the semifinal defeat against eventual winner Mayu Honda: “I have never fought against a Japanese woman before. I think I did well. It was a duel almost at eye level. At the end I was a little out of breath… As I said before, if I had been completely fit, more would have been possible. Maybe next time I can turn the tables.”
… further season starts (European Championships in the general class in Montpellier/FRA, U-23 European Championships in Potsdam/GER): “Let’s wait and see how the knee is doing in the next few days. I’m going to give it a little rest now. Actually, I should have taken a six week break after The Hague. But that wasn’t possible because of the U-21 World Cup in Odivelas. Now I really want to fully recover from my left knee and want to be 100 percent fit next year.”
2023-10-06 22:48:07
#give #rest #JudoAustria
