The Queretaro judoka will begin participating in the -81 kilogram division, in which he will seek to reach the Los Angeles Olympic Games
Queretaro judoka Gilberto Cardoso has brushed against glory, but he has also had to face defeat and see how an injury ended his dreams of attending the Olympic Games or how his aspirations for the gold medal at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games were seen. reflected in a bronze, because in a sport like judo, “You lose more than you gain,” he mentions for “Códigoqro.”
“We always go for gold, but there are many circumstances that affect performance and results. (In the Pan American Games) I didn’t stay with the thorn, I gave everything to die,” says Cardoso, who on the decisive day was tired: “I don’t know if because of the workload, the trip or the weight loss, I didn’t feel at my best, but mentally I had to be as good as possible.”
In Santiago, Cardoso lost his first fight against the Brazilian Gabriel Falcao, but recovered in the repechage by beating the Cuban Magdiel Estrada by ippon, and then won the bronze in the -73 kilogram category, after winning in gold point. to the Colombian Andrés Felipe Sandoval.
“Even if I felt tired and my hands couldn’t, my heart and mind were going to take out the copper. I resolved fight by fight, in the end, I lost in the quarterfinals, I started fighting the repechage against the Cuban, who is a very strong rival, and I beat him. The bronze, it was almost eight minutes of fighting, almost four minutes of gold point, I was tired, but in my mind I knew what I was going for, what I wanted, and the only way I was going to get out of there was on a stretcher… Do you know? “It didn’t cross my mind to give up, that’s why I’m proud and happy with myself.”
The medal fulfilled the dream of obtaining a continental medal and was the third of the six that the Querétaro delegation obtained in those games.
Learn to let go of defeats
Judo is a Japanese martial art that focuses on takedowns and grappling techniques to subdue rivals, in which physical fitness, mental discipline and sportsmanship are key to achieving victory.
The fights last four minutes in the qualifying rounds and, in the semifinals and final, five minutes. If it extends to an additional period called Golden Score, the first competitor to score a point or receive a penalty loses the match.
“All the mental work and psychology is sometimes heavier and stronger than physical work, so we have to be aware that in judo you lose more than you win, we have to understand that defeats are part of the process and part of the path; “We have to learn to let go of defeats and make the best of it to be able to improve and have a better fight in the following tournaments.”
In the Pan American Games, when he faced the Colombian for bronze, Cardoso was clear that whoever had “more resistance to pain or whoever wants it more; It has never crossed my mind to let myself be defeated, my mind does become tired, I no longer have air, I can no longer even lift my arms, but I am not going to give up; If they beat me, they have to throw me, I have to faint to stop fighting… Giving up is not an option.”
“I want to practice judo”
Gilberto learned about the sport from his father and uncles, who practiced it as children.
“I started in the sport around 2010 or 2011, there was a national tournament in the Arteaga auditorium and we went to see it, I liked it a lot and I said: ‘I want to practice judo.'”
Gilberto went to train two or three times a week, “he saw it as a ‘hobby’.””but after a year of practicing it he decided to focus entirely on the sport. With his talent and work he was called to the national team and joined the training sessions at the National Commission of Physical Culture and Sports (Conade), a place where athletes focus on training and competitions, and where their minds are solely and exclusively dedicated to the sport.
The 25-year-old athlete describes himself as strong and with great discipline, because he does not miss training and, if he does, he makes up for that time later: “I don’t make myself less, I train hard for hours and hours, and it doesn’t cost me, on the contrary, it is a pleasure for me to be doing this,” points out the athlete, who has sacrificed his childhood, adolescence and years of not being at home, of seeing his family only through video calls, who never stops and who, if he is injured, does not rest, but rather goes back to training until he recovers, in addition to coping with other areas, such as school and work.
“You know, I like doing it, I am very passionate about this life, dedicating myself to training, traveling, competing is my life, I love it and I think that is why I couldn’t say that I sacrifice so much, because I am doing what I like.”
Standing on the podium for athletes is an indescribable and addictive feeling, for which they have prepared their entire lives.
“When you are named first place, they play the anthem, you see your flag high, it is really very gratifying, it is a moment when you know that everything was worth it.”
Paris, the games that could not be
Cardoso has a long-term aspiration and it is the Los Angeles Olympic Games, for which he must begin to seek to enter the ‘ranking’ of his new category, the -81 kilograms.
Paris is now in the past, but the games were a reality until he was injured. “At the time I cried a lot, because I knew it was not a light injury, I saw my hand and it was very swollen, I couldn’t make a fist, I couldn’t sleep, brush my teeth, open a bottle, a door, or even shake hands, because it hurt me to the core.”
The sprain arrived in the competitive cycle heading to Paris 2024, causing Cardoso to miss competitions such as the Baku Grand Slam, the Tashkent Grand Slam, the Austrian Grand Prix and the Dushanbe Grand Slam, so, by not scoring points, he started relegated and frustrated, he went to his psychologist, his friends, but “the emotional burden was very hard, I did what I could those two or three months,” but this situation was combined with the fact that support was withdrawn from the man from Querétaro for the last competencies.
“I paid for the last competitions, I didn’t want to think afterwards about what could have happened; If I wasn’t going to qualify, at least I wouldn’t have that doubt, that’s why I paid for the competitions, I did the best I could. In the end, what should have been done in half a year could not be done in three competitions, but I did not have that taste in my mouth of what could have been.”
