Patricia and bronze at the European Championships: “I’m speechless, this is unbelievable!”

24-year-old Judoka Paes finally reaches the coveted podium at the Continental Senior Championships; The emotion and adrenaline was such that he was crying long before the tears came.

After designing, this Sunday, the Dutch Guusje Steennhuis (6th in classification) l ippon 2.04m from the end of the fight for bronze, when he was already ahead wazarithus ensuring a place on the podium at the European Championships in Montpellier, 24-year-old Patricia Sampaio stood up and pulled her elbows with all her strength to her body.

As he clenched his fists to release his adrenaline, he made a short run to the middle of the road. Mat He claps his hands before lying on his back and putting his hands on his face, such were the feelings.

Having already been two-time European Junior Champion in Sofia 2018 and Vantaa 2019 and U-23 Champion in Budapest 2021, it was her fifth participation in the major competition and after the last few years had always been marked by various injuries that restricted her, both in competitions and in preparation, she finally reached the Podium in the Absolute European Championship. “Happiness is so great,” says A BOLA. “I’m speechless…unbelievable. Yes, incredible is the right word,” he corrects

“At that moment on the carpet I thought: What happened? I can’t believe it!” he reveals. “I was in disbelief. It went really well. It was a lot of things at the same time. I was crying a lot, but the tears wouldn’t come. But I was actually crying…,” he says, laughing.

“It was only after I got off the carpet that I started crying a lot of tears while hugging Rochelle [Nunes]Rita [Fernandes, fisioterapeuta] And Marco [Morais, selecionador]. “Then I cried really hard,” adds Olympian Gualdim Paes, who is currently ranked 11th in the rankings classification World Championship and 10th in the Olympic qualifiers for Paris-2024.

“Yes, I’ve been after this for a long time. A long time ago… As we’ve talked about on other occasions, one of my main goals for this year was to get a medal at the European Championships. “There is still a bitter aftertaste of last season, when I didn’t have the chance to win it because I was in hospital,” he recalls of the 2022 Sofia edition, which saw, during the semi-finals, a big upset: a battle against Steennhuis, 31, who has three podium finishes. At the World Championships (0 + 2 + 1) and six at the Euros (0 + 5 + 1), his right shoulder stuck out.

An incident that naturally prevented her from fighting for at least the bronze medal – she really wanted to go but they wouldn’t let her – and forced her to undergo another surgical intervention.

What does this moment mean to you? “Great personal growth,” he answers immediately. “Both on the psychological, technical and tactical levels. Today was actually a very good day tactically. I showed that I was world class with the coolness I presented and how I was able to fight and manage the fight. Even the frustration of losing and having to go into the replay immediately,” he recalls of the only defeat he suffered in the quarter-finals, against the Italian. classification Alice Bellandy.

A confrontation in which he was in the lead most of the time, but he ended up losing it wazari He struggled with 12 seconds to go. Then, in replay, elimination, for ministerial, Ukrainian Yelizaveta Litvinenko (12th place). classification) in 52 seconds of extra time.

He added: “I think this medal shows tremendous development and also overcoming the past few months, which were not easy.” “I feel proud to see how much I have grown from year to year and how much I have improved this season. “I feel proud of myself,” she says with conviction after re-injuring her shoulder in Mongolia in June, and after fracturing the toe of her right foot the following month during a national team training camp in the Netherlands.

It must be remembered that since the start of the 2023 season, Sampaio has proven to be the most consistent athlete in the national team, scoring six medals (1+1+4) in eight stages of the circuit and finishing one win short of the podium in the other two.

The most recent was a week and a half ago in the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Championship. His first competition after injuries at the beginning of the summer, the only event in which he did not reach the final block was the Dua World Cup, but now he has had another success in the continental championship.