(ANSA) – ISERNIA, 15 OTT – Italian judoka Maria Centracchio, who won the bronze medal in the 63 kilogram category competition at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, announced her retirement from official competition at the age of 30.
“My competitive career ends and the one on the other side of the fence begins, in small steps, with all the desire to give the best to others and grow with them, with dedication, study and the greatest possible attention, always at the service of Fiamme Oro”, Centracchio published on social networks, where she confirmed that she will begin her path as a coach.
“It’s been a while, three years to be exact, since my last time on the competitive tatami, three years since I fulfilled my biggest dream, leaving Tokyo with an Olympic medal around my neck,” the Azzurri athlete stressed.
“From that moment on, many things have taken a different form: among them, judo has always been my passion and my main goal, but the way of living it has changed,” he explained.
“I still want to achieve something important through judo, but something less tangible, less obvious. It’s not about titles or medals, it’s not about me personally: it’s about seeing the happy and satisfied eyes of an athlete who progresses, grows and achieves his goals, also thanks to my help in knowing that I am a point of reference for those who want to reach the top to provide these people with those things that I have lacked and that I learned to find and manage on my own”, Centracchio added.
Likewise, the judoka thanked those who “every 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.”
“As an athlete I have learned that the only people we must convince of our value are ourselves, that working with heart and intelligence, sooner or later, always brings something good and that facts speak better than anything else; so , always with the facts, I hope to build something beautiful for the road ahead,” concluded Centracchio. (ANSA).
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