Wálter González made a living and worked on whatever came his way. He had to do it to support the house, his family, so that Leidy Barona, his wife, Diana, Angelín and Brenda Juliana would not have to go through work.
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He was employed several times as a construction master. In Jamundí he was very required to do this work, but sometimes his children accompanied him, especially Brenda, who showed an affinity with her stepfather.
She was little, but she liked to learn everything. He studied, but when he had time he went with Wálter to work. Life for her and her family was not easy, but that helped her to learn, to fight for her goals and she put some of that effort into practice to win the gold medal in the last Judo World Youth Championship, which she won out in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
In the final, the one born on August 1, 2004 in Jamundí, municipality of Valle del Cauca, defeated the German Mathilda Sophie Niemeyer to win the gold medal, so far, her first major victory.
Brenda helped Wálter stir the mixture, carry lumps of cement, and spread cloth, because it was useful to him. It wasn’t that her stepfather gave her money, but when she needed it for a registration or for a trip to a competition, he spared nothing and gave her some money.
It was, in a way, a good opportunity to pay tribute to Julián Andrés Olaya, her father, who was murdered when Brenda Juliana was very little.
“I remember little about him. The truth is, not much. He never lived with my mother, but he helped us and when he was gone, his sister, Otilia, was always looking out for us. The relationship with him was very good, but Wálter is important to us, because when I was about five years old he started living with my mother,” said Brenda Juliana, who graduated from high school at the Instituto Educativa Industrial Technical School in Spain.
Since his stepfather did everything, on one occasion they called him to go take care of a farm that was located at kilometer 18, on the Cali to Buenaventura road, and there everyone helped.
Brenda Olaya also worked in the field before becoming world champion
Brenda studied in the mornings at the nearby school, where she went on foot accompanied by her stepfather, since it was not that far from the house.
In the afternoon, he would come home from studying and start planting carrots and tomatoes, taking care of the ducks and chickens, but in the middle of that life they had to return to Jamundí, but the conditions were not the best.
Brenda Olaya
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Brenda Juliana Olaya considers herself a ‘lonely’ person, with few friends, she is not from now, she is from always, and she remembers that when she returned to the Valle del Cauca population it was the same, pBut she was marked by a step taken by her mother, who went to live in an invasion, something that hit her hard.
“I was never very social, I rather kept to myself. One that another person shared with me, but my mother went to live in an invasion, something that was difficult, because I saw many bad, ugly things,” he said.
The Colombian judoka points out that although her family could not endure hunger, the neighbors did suffer from these inconveniences and that made her feel bad.
In that neighborhood there was a lot of crime, drugs, they were very poor people, but she did not fall into those bad paths because she had already defined her future, that mirror that she saw daily helped her to move forward and not look back.
“I have always been a very focused person. At that time I was already studying and was in judo, that helped me avoid those dangers. There was a tense, hard atmosphere. “You saw people who didn’t have enough to eat and you felt sad and that gave me reason to think that I had to support my family,” he said.
Over time, with the contributions of Wálter and Leidy, things changed. They left the invasion and moved to a better neighborhood. At that time Jamundí was revolutionized, since the judoka Yuri Alvear was one of the personalities of the population.
In August 2013, a year after Alvear won the bronze medal in the -70 kilos of judo at the 2012 London Olympic Games, the Colombian athlete received her house.
Constructora IC Prefabricados SA gave Yuri the home it promised him, in an exclusive neighborhood of Jamundí, with three floors, five bedrooms, three bathrooms and a good patio.
Yuri Alvear, double Olympic medalist in judo.
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Many people attended that event and the Olayas did not miss it. Leidy and Otilia suggested that Brenda go to the coliseum to train judo, they insisted, but she didn’t copy them, she didn’t stop them.
Brenda Olaya, initially, was not interested in judo
Days later and after so much insistence, Brenda Juliana accepted, went to train, but was not convinced that this was her sport.
“They were excited because they had given the house to Yuri and they told me to realize that it was possible to move forward. I went to train to bring them the idea, but I wasn’t convinced, because I didn’t like it. At that time I studied, I played, I was stupid, I didn’t bother people, but I had a lot of energy and I went,” she said.
I wasn’t a good student. Brenda assures that she did like studying, but she enjoyed it and for her it was better to play with her few friends. He says that he was in an intermediate group, one of those that did not lose subjects, but that did not occupy the first positions.
She was so undisciplined that Leidy was summoned to school several times, because Brenda did not behave well, she liked being in the bedroom more than in the classroom itself. “Yes, she was very undisciplined,” said the Colombian judoka.
Brenda Olaya
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Studying, training and the occasional visit to houses to help her stepfather in construction, this is how Brenda’s childhood passed until she became a teenager.
“I insist, it wasn’t that I liked judo, but that I wanted to do something, but I didn’t have much motivation. That all changed when I turned 17. I sat down and thought I better take that seriously. It didn’t fulfill me, I wasn’t judicious, I had discipline, but not responsibility. One day yes, another no, but over time one gains sporting maturity,” he said.
Several times he stopped going to training. Brenda Juliana doesn’t remember how many, she lost count, but she was absent, judo didn’t fill her. His aunt and his mother were key, but no more so than María Elizabeth, his grandmother, for whom he took things seriously. However, the difficult thing was raising the money to go compete, for travel, although Wálter helped him, it was not enough.
Olaya says that the neighbors helped them and that her mother and aunt held raffles and sold tamales to raise the money.
“Those times were difficult, but I remember that my first coach was Lina González. “She was the one who welcomed me for the first time at the coliseum, perhaps she was the one who carried the weight of my reluctance, but then she helped me overcome all those fears I had and prepared me to reach the hands of Yuri Alvear,” Brenda recalls.
It was like something unattainable. The athlete from Valle del Cauca says that when she had the double Olympic medalist in front of her, she couldn’t believe it, but that it also helped her because she assured that she had, no matter what, she had to move forward.
He came to this competition with only one objective: to reach the final and, if it happened, to win gold, since he had just won the bronze medal in the previous World Cup.
This was Brenda Olaya’s path to the gold medal at the Judo World Youth Championship
In the first phase, in the round of 32, she came out ahead after defeating the Spanish June Moreno, a fight in which the Colombian came out to dominate with that personality that characterizes her, so much so that the fight only lasted one minute.
Then, the Japanese Kokoro Ottawa arrived, but once again Olaya was the best, doing her perfect job for the victory that brought her closer to her goal.
“I didn’t have an easy fight, but I knew I couldn’t trust anyone or anything, that’s why I always went all out,” Brenda said.
The French Lila Mazzarino was not a strong opponent either and fell into the trap of the Valle del Cauca, who came out ahead in that fight. In the semifinals, Brenda beat Brazilian Dandara Camilo. In that fight he achieved two Waza-Ari (opponent’s throw), which gave him the victory and the box in the final.
And in that decisive fight against Niemeyer, the Valle del Cauca native calmly climbed onto the tatami and, without saying a word, took the reins of the fight to finally win the gold and think about everything she has experienced alongside her coach, Yuri Alvear.
Brenda Olaya and the reception after being world champion.
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“He was my idol. No, it is, but at the same time it is a very great motivation. She knows, she understands and I am very proud that she is my coach. She has helped me get ahead and I owe what I have achieved in judo to her,” Brenda said.
After gold at the Junior World Cup, Brenda is looking further ahead. Today, he is 20 years old, but his perspective is much higher. He knows that this was a first step and that many more are coming.
Colombian judo, after Yuri Alvear, is looking for an athlete who goes down the same path, that of world titles, that of Olympic medals and Brenda Juliana is going that way.
“The feeling of the medal was the best. Like I didn’t believe it. “I got off the podium and thought about everything I’ve been through, that I didn’t like this sport and look, it opens doors for me,” he told EL TIEMPO.
“The feeling of the medal was the best. Like I didn’t believe it. “I got off the podium and thought about everything I’ve been through, that I didn’t like this sport and look, it opens doors for me.”
And he added: “For me it was incredible what sport has given me. I have had the opportunity to know many countries, several important people and to win, to demonstrate my talent. I always thank God and those who have supported me. Today, I still don’t seem to assimilate what I have won, but that helps me improve, to continue on the right path,” he said.
This is Brenda Juliana Olaya Córdoba, the new jewel of Colombian judo, the one polished by the hands of Alvear, one of the country’s sports icons and who instills in her pupil, mystique, discipline and love for this sport that needs a lot. sacrifice, determination, the same that the young athlete put in when she accompanied Wálter to his work, to mix cement and fog up walls.
Lisandro Rengifo
Editor of EL TIEMPO
@LisandroAbel
