At only 15 years old, Valentina Garro has achieved numerous achievements in regional and national Judo tournaments. Having been awarded the Jorge Newbery Silver Award in her discipline days ago, this young woman from the Los Viveros neighborhood passed through the microphones of Contame La Posta
Last Monday, December 9, the Jorge Newbery awards were presented at the Usina del Arte of the City of Buenos Aires, an award given to the most outstanding athletes each year in the Buenos Aires area and the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area ( AMBA). And among so many prestigious winners, such as the F-1 driver Franco Colapinto by the Automobile Sports Commission of the Argentine Automobile Club or the River Plate soccer player Germán Pezzella by the Argentine Soccer Association (AFA), there was a Rodriguense who She won the Silver Newbery as the most outstanding athlete in Judo thanks to the election of the Metropolitan Judo Federation.
And that is Valentina Garro, a 15-year-old girl from the Los Viveros neighborhood whose sensei is Sergio Duarte, at this point an emblem of this discipline in our city that has brought so much joy and pride. In communication during the last Contame La Posta program, the young woman acknowledged that “I didn’t have that much faith in me because there were three of us in the group and the truth is that I know the boys and they are doing quite well”referring to his shortlist mates in Judo, one from Moreno and another from Capital Federal.
At the same time, he indicated that he teaches at a small school in his neighborhood. “two blocks from my house and 10 or 15 kids go, and I do it because I like judo and I like them to learn like I learned”. The classes are none other than in the house of his teacher Sergio Duarte, “which gave me the opportunity to give it to the kids there”.
“I like to see the kids learn, have fun more than anything and make friends”he added.
Likewise, he revealed that “I didn’t want to do judo, I wanted to do artistic gymnastics. But Professor Sergio always told me to go do judo, I didn’t listen to him until one day he invited me, I went several times, I liked it and I stayed there”.
Representative of the Kentoshi Dojo of our city and student of Secondary School No. 4 of Parque Irigoyen, she stated that she suffers from a ligament strain for which she has been inactive for a month and a half, so she could not compete in the Closing National Judo Championship in Jujuy.
While regarding his expectations for the year 2025, he maintained that “The first thing I want is to get to the preseason and train three times a day in the summer to be prepared for all the tournaments there are, the Nationals more than anything”and wished “to be able to compete in some South American competition” Since although she was called up twice, due to economic reasons she was not yet able to compete internationally.
Having started practicing judo in 2021 at the age of 12, he already has a countless number of achievements and medals. Some of them are: Interprovincial of Posadas (2022, Category 1º B, 1st place); Buenos Aires Cup in Castelar (2022, 1st B, 1st place); Buenos Aires Games in Mar del Plata (2022, 1st B, 1st place); Puerto Piray National (2022, 1st B, 3rd place); Buenos Aires City Cup (2023, 1st B, 1st place); Río Uruguay Cup in Colón (2023, 1st B, 3rd place); National of Formosa (2023, 1st B, 2nd place); Interprovincial of Tres de Febrero (2023, 1st B, 3rd place); Buenos Aires Games in Mar de Plata (2023, 1st B, 1st place); Evita Games in Mar del Plata (2023, 1st B, 2nd place); Buenos Aires Games (2023, 1st B, 1st place); National of Santiago del Estero (2023, 1st B, 1st place); Interprovincial of Castelar (2024, Cadet Category, 1st place); Carlos Paz National (2024, Cadets, 3rd place); Tigre Interprovincial (2024, Cadets, 2nd place); and Juegos Porteños (2024, Cadets, 1st place).
Regarding the Jorge Newbery Awards, the Sports Secretariat of the City of Buenos Aires organizes this annual awards in which more than 60 metropolitan federations and associations present their shortlist of athletes chosen based on their achievements during the season.