Rochelle: “I needed the silver and I deserved it.”

Benfica judoka changes diet and gains weight for Baku Grand Slam. He added a thirteenth medal for Portugal in the track since 2019; Fonseca was one victory away from the podium

“I feel like this is the medal I needed and deserved,” Rochelle Nunes (+78kg) told A BOLA after winning the silver medal at the Grand Slam tournament in Baku, after losing in the final due to a penalty, with 37 seconds left in the match. In front of Brazilian Beatriz Souza (seventh place). classification).

The last day of the stage in the Azerbaijani capital in which the team was on the verge of having another member on the podium. However, Jorge Fonseca (-100 kg, 14th place) found himself defeated in the bronze medal fight against Frenchman Aurelien Des (58th), after 3 minutes of extra time.

And just last month, the Sporting Olympian returned to the medals after finishing third in the Zagreb Grand Prix. This comes after 14 months of no results and two injuries in between. This time it was close. This repeated the fifth place finish achieved the previous day by João Fernando (-81kg) and Bárbara Timo (-63kg), meaning Portugal was one victory away from closing out the race with four medals.

However, Rochelle ended up being the only one to fly the Portuguese flag in the national gymnastics arena. “I say I needed it because I needed more confidence. In the second semester I changed some things in my profile as an athlete. I realized that I had to do some things differently.”

«13 platforms? “I stopped counting”

“And I deserve it because, in fact, I work to deserve it. It’s not easy. We have to give up many things and that is why I stopped and reevaluated – with Ana Hormejo [treinadora do Benfica] – He concluded that things were not going well. I didn’t get good results. “We reevaluated and started working harder,” adds who, since 2019, when he started competing for Portugal, has scored 13 podium finishes on the track, eight of them in Major Slams.

“No, I didn’t know that… It may seem like I’m not being honest, but I’ve stopped counting because there’s still so much to gain. “I keep collecting them, but I never stop counting them,” he reveals with a laugh. The last gold medal was celebrated at the Dushanbe Grand Prix (Tajikistan) in June.

With this result, Rochelle Nunes (34 years old) collected another 700 points for the team classification The World Championships and, better yet, the Paris qualifiers for the 2024 Olympic Games, where she sits in a quiet 12th place. He is two points ahead of Souza, who scored 1,000 points.

Bizenio in games without sweets

“I feel like I’m closer to the games door. With a little foot there…” he joked. “But I want to get there comfortably. If I go to Paris as top seed, it will give me more comfort and with many medals, more confidence. That’s why some tests and internal training have already been scheduled to prepare for the Games. In November, we will hold the European Championship, for me it is one of the most important goals of the season. The preparation focused on this. “It was not the case for Baku,” reveals the two-time European bronze medalist who was already at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

After making these changes during preparation, how did you see your performance on this test? “I’ve changed a lot physically,” he answers immediately. “I changed my diet. I stopped eating some sweets. I don’t follow a calorie diet, but I realized that I needed more quality.” “I also considered that I needed more rest, as I am already 34 years old. As a result “So, I started training more and the physical aspect improved a lot. From this standpoint I say the results will appear.”

This means that the goal will also be to go to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics… but at -78 kg?, we joked. «[gargalhadas] At -78kg, I think it would be very difficult, but it is a possibility. There’s still plenty of time to talk about Los Angeles 2028. After all, I’m older. ”

“But, at the same time, with losing weight, I realized that I had more freedom and the opportunity to compete longer. I’m counting on a lot of support from the state and the club to achieve this. “It depends a lot on me because it involves a lot of sacrifices.”

Nerves and fear of slipping

Until reaching the final against Brazilian Sousa (seventh place in the tournament). classification), after being exempt from the opening round, Rochelle Nunes (14th place) defeated Dominican Moira Murillo (27th place) in a row. ipponTurkish Hilal Ozturk (16) with two goals wazaris In the semi-finals, Russian Elis Startseva (154) was suspended.

It may seem strange, but the confrontation with Murillo was the most complicated in his view. And not because I’ve never encountered it. “I was a bit nervous and new carpets usually slip a bit and I felt like this was happening. She is not a very strong athlete, but sometimes she is able to surprise the best, because she uses techniques everywhere and sometimes it clicks. “I waited for her mistake so I could win,” he explains.

In the final match, was that confidence missing? “My strategy was to look for the best positions, but then I was afraid of exposing myself and falling – when her hand went up, it was strong. We know each other very well. But I went for all or nothing. “It was actually the fight in which I felt very tired,” says Rochelle of the encounter in which both were more waiting for the opponent to make a mistake than taking the initiative to attack. That is why, with more than 1.30 meters to go each, the total Two already shidos.