Fran Garrigós (Móstoles, 9 December 1994) raises an eyebrow. He calmly observes how people look at him in the Olympic Village. He even gives the impression that he is capable of abstracting himself from everything, even though he knows he is one of the centres of attention of the Spanish delegation at these Games. He is the great contender for the first medal, who knows if it will be gold, this very Saturday (from 10:00 am). With barely 160 centimetres in height and a jaw of granite, the judoka, in his mental bubble, reveals a certain tenderness with his gaze.
“If it’s something you can’t control, that doesn’t depend on you, it’s not worth focusing on. Because you can’t do anything. That’s just how it is. It’s like when you’re driving in traffic. You can’t do anything.“I should have left earlier. I’m just afraid of not performing,” he tells this journalist, standing up straight, without moving a muscle. Perhaps only his eyelids.
Fran Garrigós, Military training – he is a reserve sergeant in the Air and Space Force – and a graduate in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences with an MBA Master in Sports Entity Managementhas had to deal with the worst demons that can haunt an athlete: uncertainty, emptiness. In his first Olympic Games, in Rio, he lost in his first fight. In his second Olympic Games, in Tokyo, he also lost at dawn. Yes, in the first fight. And Garrigós felt that the light was going out.
Redemption
When this newspaper asks him about the day after, about redemption, about the weight and the consequences of losing at the same dawn, Garrigós does not hesitate. He saw how deep the ravine can be, but he accepts it.
“Yes, I got down. After Tokyo I didn’t know if I was going to continue or not. But there was a competition [el Grand Prix de Portugal, en enero de 2022]which I wasn’t prepared for, but I needed to do it to know if I had to continue doing this. If I hadn’t had the desire then, I would have quit. I would have continued training judo, because it’s my life, but not competing…”. Then, he was eliminated in the quarterfinals. But the result wasn’t the important thing, but rather rediscovering the lost flame: “It gave me energy. I saw that I wanted to keep trying to be better every day. Not just in judo, but in life.”.
Fran Garrigós knows he has many guardian angels. Those who rescued him from his dark times. “I have been working with Pablo del Río, my personal psychologist, for more than 12 years. I started with him at the CAR. It is very important for me to know what I have to worry about, what depends on me.”
The Quino Dojo
And, of course, there is Quino Ruiz, his teacher at the Dojo Quino in Brunete, the birthplace of so many, and also of the Olympic dream of Niko Sherazadishvili, double world champion who also dealt with disappointment in Tokyo, and who will resume his fight in Paris, although now in the -100 kilo category.
But, of course, it has been 24 years since Spanish judo won an Olympic medal. This sport is one that so many girls and boys love, and which finds an invisible barrier in adolescence. Those who jump over it have the bearing of the chosen ones. “Before arriving in Paris, perhaps I was not so aware of this.” [de la atención generada]. But it seems that I do have a chance of getting a medal.“, admits Garrigós to this diary.
The last Spanish metal achieved it Isabel Fernandez in Sydney 2000In Atlanta 96, Isabel Fernández herself had already won bronze, as had Yolanda Soler; while Ernesto Pérez won silver. And in the ecstasy of Barcelona 92, those who made history were Miriam Blanco and Almudena Muñoz with their legendary Olympic golds.
And Fran Garrigós, the reigning world champion and three-time European champion – “any of the 25 who fight in my category, 60 kilos, can take the gold,” he says – can neither avoid nor want to avoid attention. When the COE seats him next to his teammates, he takes the central position. But he only raises his eyebrow. He looks straight ahead. He neither smiles nor twists his face. He is at peace. In his own world.
2024-07-26 05:44:45
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