“My competitive career ends and the one on the other side of the fence begins, in small steps, with all the desire to give my best for others and to grow together with them, with dedication, study and as much attention as possible, always service of the Golden Flames”.
Through her social channels, Maria Centracchio, the Isernina judoka who won bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, announced her retirement from competitive sport and her new start as a trainer in the discipline that allowed her to realize a dream, with great effort and dedication.
“It’s been a while, three years to be exact, since my last time on the competition tatami – he recalled in the post -, three years since I realized my biggest dream, leaving Tokyo with an Olympic medal at neck. From that moment on, many things have taken a different shape: among these, judo has always remained my passion and my main goal, but the way of living it has changed”.
“I continue to want to achieve something important through judo – he added – but something less tangible, less evident. It’s not about titles or medals, it’s not about me personally: it’s about seeing happy eyes and satisfied with an athlete who makes progress, grows and reaches his goals, also thanks to my help; to know that he is a point of reference for those who want to reach the top; to provide these people with those things that I also have missed and that I have learned to find and manage on my own”.
And then thanks to all those who “day by day allow me to believe in the beauty of this mission and who, without knowing it, with their trust and dedication, give me the joy of dreaming, even when it is not easy”.
Finally, a message of trust and hope for young people.
“As an athlete I have learned that the only people we need to convince of our worth are ourselves, that working with heart and intelligence, sooner or later, always brings something good and that facts speak better than anything; thus, always with done, I hope to build something beautiful for the path to come.”
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