The judoka Freed Villalobos officially became the ninth member of the Peruvian Paralympic delegation that will participate in the next Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
The paradeportistaFrom Arequipa at heart, he will compete in the B1 division up to 81 kilos in the Japanese event. It is the first time that a judoka will be representing Peru in the Paralympic Games.
In communication with The Republic, Villalobos said that it was the president of the National Paralympic Association of Peru, Lucha Villar, who gave him the news of his classification last Monday, July 12 in the morning.
“You are very happy, it is a joy and a pleasure to have the honor of representing our country in the next games paralympic. I am the first paradeportista on judo that classifies this competition representing Peru ”, he said excitedly.
Achievements obtained
Villalobos said that there were two important events that led him to achieve this dream. The first was his participation in a competition held in November 2018 in Portugal, where he achieved his accreditation and was recognized as paradeportista, member of the International Federation in Judo.
Then, in the 2019 Parapan American Games, he won the bronze medal in his discipline, which gave him the opportunity, as the third best in the continent, to dispute a place for Tokyo 2020.
In April and May of this year he traveled to Turkey and Azerbaijan to participate in two competitions, where he managed to score points that in the end served him to qualify for the next continental event.
His other passion
Freed Villalobos, who has been visually impaired since she was a baby, studied law at the Universidad Católica San Pablo de Arequipa.
He says that before finishing his degree, he needed some credits from a training course, so he decided to enter the judo workshop. There he learned about this sport and has not left it to date.
Currently he also works as a labor lawyer, but he spends his most time practicing with his coach Daniel Vizcarra for the appointment. He has lived in Lima for a year, getting ready for his next challenge.
“One message I would like to share with young people is that you always have to fight for your dreams and giving up is not an option. What I have achieved is the result of all the effort and determination that I put into it, ”Villalobos concluded.
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