Spanish judo is optimistic about ending its Olympic medal drought since Sydney 2000 at the Paris Games, which it is attending “with great expectations” and with good assets such as Fran Garrigós, world champion in 2023 and European champion in 2024 in the -60 kilos category, who warns, however, that his “very good” results in this cycle do not guarantee him “anything”. “I really want to do a good job, I’m looking forward to the competition and for everything to go well. I’m arriving in the best possible condition and the results of this cycle have been very good, but this does not guarantee anything,” said Garrigós this Thursday at the judo team’s press conference at the Olympic Village. The Madrid native pointed out that “any of the 25” competitors in his category “can fight for gold”. “I have to enjoy that day and try to be as high as possible on the podium,” said the 2023 world champion. The Spaniard acknowledged that his early elimination in Tokyo 2020 was “a pretty hard blow,” but praised the work done with Pablo del Río, his psychologist. “I needed to know if I wanted to continue competing and this has made me here and the results have come,” he admitted. “In Rio de Janeiro I arrived young and in Tokyo I arrived in a good year and I expected much more, but the pressure got to me. After the World Championships a month ago, what I have changed is that I have to fight without thinking about the result and that medal, just give my best and that will make me be able to fight for the medals,” added the Madrid native who cited the Japanese Ryuju Nagayama, the French Luka Mkheidze or Yang Yung-Wei, from Chinese Taipei. Finally, Fran Garrigós did not doubt the potential of the team that is in Paris and that aspires to break the 24-year drought without winning an Olympic medal. “This team is very good and any of the nine can win a medal. On other occasions we have won quite a few medals, but at these Games we are going to break that bad streak,” she hoped. For his part, David García, who will compete in the -66 kilos category and who is making his debut at the Games, indicated that “the objective is to win fights and get that medal” and also affirmed that in the French capital “this bad streak” of Spanish judo at the Olympic level is going to be broken. “The Games make me very excited and we will try to give our best when the competition starts. Many of us are coming for the first time and we will do everything possible to bring that medal to Spain. We have a very good team and we are confident,” stressed Laura Martínez, who will fight in the -48 kilos category. Another debutant will be Ariane Toro, who also has a special significance in Paris 2024 because her father José is the national coach and that makes her “very excited” and makes her “want to do a good job and fight for a medal.” In addition, her mother, Yolanda Soler, won bronze in Atlanta’96. “She just landed a few hours ago, but she won’t be at the Village. Her biggest piece of advice is to enjoy being here and to reflect what we have trained on the ‘tatami’,” said the -52 kilo judoka, making it clear that the team is not thinking about the fact that they have “not won a medal” since Sydney. “We are focused on our work and each one is fighting to win one,” she said. Finally, the national coach José Toro confessed that he is living “with great emotion” his first Olympic Games as coach and with his daughter “by his side.” “We have a great team and great expectations and we are going to fight for everything. We have a great team and things would have to go very wrong for us not to win something. It is a great team, young, eager and they are not thinking about the 24 medals but about doing well and being competitive, that is what they have to think about,” he said.
2024-07-25 10:05:32
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