Leopoldo Cnovas, one of the pioneers of judo in Ferrol, dies

At the age of 85, one of the pioneers of judo in Ferrol, Leopoldo Cnovas, died. It started when he was enrolled in the Infantera de Marina and was always linked to the world of sports and physical activity. As an athlete, he won the Spanish Marine Championships nineteen consecutive times, one of them even got the title with a torn meniscus, his sons recall. And he has the record for the most titles, recalls Ricardo Trillo, one of his students, now at the Bitcora club. He also tried to instill his love for this sport in his children, both in Juan Carlos, Francisco Javier, now deceased, and in Poldo, says his fourth daughter, Cot.

With Luis Cano he founded the first club in Ferrol, Jita Kyoei -help and mutual prosperity- with which the great history of judo was born in the city. A piece of history dies with him, Trillo lamented. Remember that both parted ways, that they did not have a good relationship, and opening, Leopoldo, the Kawaishi club, which was part of the Spanish judo organization, and Luis, the Ferrol Judo Club. I started there with Leopoldo. I remember it was his passion. He loved to take us for a run to Chamorro, I remember going up the hill with the little horse, or in Caaveiro he would send us to grab what he found, a log. Now he takes that a lot, but it’s all made up, he says between anecdotes.

Cnovas paved the way for equality in this sport. It had a very powerful female team that would go around the pavilions to do exhibitions, says Trillo. Train the first woman in Spain to win a judo championship. He also worked as a masseur in Ferrol and trained many military and police officers to enter the service. And this passion led him to continue playing sports until after he retired.