Olbia. Federico Deiana flies to Las Vegas for the M1 class Veterans World Championships and returns, after having conquered the podium, to tell us about this extraordinary adventure.
Deiana, a judo athlete, for the second consecutive year participated in the “Las Vegas World Judo Championships Veterans & Kata 2024 International Judo Federation”, the veterans world championships in which she fought in the M1 -60 kg category, playing 4 matches and winning three, for the second step of the podium awaits him after the fourth meeting with the strong Georgian athlete Nadaereshvili who ranked first in his category.
“I am very happy with this experience, the matches were very hard fought, there were 5 of us in a free-for-all match, I played 4 matches winning the first three one after the other, in the fourth match I met the Georgian with whom I was competing the champion title and this year he had something more that allowed him to take first place.”
“Both of us motivated, we found ourselves on the carpet competing for our children, and I always had a little piece of my son with me, he prepared for me my talisman, my lucky charm, the backpack with his spiderman clothes, specially chosen from him.”
Having just finished the Italian Cup match with a not too satisfactory result, he says he is now enjoying the success and also the after-effects of jet lag.
“An incredible experience – says Deiana – we were around 1300 athletes from all over the world, some even arriving from the Olympics.”
“We went to the Cesare Palace where they filmed ‘The Hangover,’ we couldn’t help but go to see an NBA match and take a tour of the largest hotel which houses the spaces dedicated to Venice and its canals, let’s say that we combined business with pleasure and after the races we allowed ourselves to savor the city that never sleeps, the one that is brightly lit even at night, but which doesn’t have good coffee.”
“Now maximum concentration to start training again and think about the European Championships which I have never participated in, while I had a World Cup behind me, the European Championship is still not part of my career. I take this opportunity to ingratiate myself with all the technical staff of the national team, Manuela Tadini and Massimo Polishes that made their presence felt even if they were not present on the tatami.”
In thanking those who supported and encouraged him and those who helped him and continue to help him, even in training, we cannot miss his little son, his mother and the guys from the gym who help him train, including his teacher Efisio Mele and Daniele Ena who lends a hand in every way and does not miss a thought for the other great champion with whom he celebrated and shared the experience and the goal, the World champion Degortes.
