Carmen Grau Vila
Tokyo, Aug 27 (EFE) .- Three decades of judo, four Paralympic Games and the recognition of his country, Uruguay, for the best parathlete materialized this Friday at the Tokyo Games when Henry Burges got on the mat for the last time.
Parathletes compete in judo with different kinds of vision and Borges, blind, is B1 because he cannot recognize shapes at any distance, while his rival represented B2, a category where they recognize shapes and perceive clearly up to two meters.
In conventional judo two meters separate the athletes at the beginning, but the athletes with visual impairment start clinging to the “judogi” of their opponent, so that blindness is not a disadvantage.
Henry Borges, 38, caught hold of his Turkish rival, Recep Ciftci, and fought in the 60kg event to achieve his last medal dream before retiring from competition, having represented his country in Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016.
The Uruguayan fell from Ippon after a close fight at the martial arts temple in the heart of Tokyo, the Nippon Budokan.
In Rio he stayed at the gates of bronze and that gave him strength not to give up until Tokyo and say goodbye, although in reality his life was already marked by continuous improvement.
THE JUDO AS A WEAPON OF A NORMAL LIFE
Born in Artigas, at six months of age he suffered meningitis that affected his vision. It would not be until he was nine years old when he started in Montevideo in the sport that it would help him in a difficult transition that he knew was approaching and that happened at the age of 12, when he lost his sight completely.
“Beyond medals and achievements, judo taught me to achieve a normal and ordinary life, like everyone else, to have a job, a family and be totally autonomous. In addition, it was an important tool to overcome many barriers that we , as disabled, we have to be jumping every day, “said Borges.
The judoka is, in addition to an important figure of his country of Paralympic judo, a fan of the guitar. He studied chemistry at university and has raised a family of two children with his life and tatami companion, the also parajudo Mariana Mederos.
“We shared the dream of qualifying together in Tokyo, in the end only one of us has achieved it, but while I am the one who is here, our hearts are one and the same,” he said on Tuesday after his training in the Japanese capital.
Both judocas plan to continue teaching parajudo to blind people in Uruguay, to pass on the legacy that has given them so much as individuals and families.
PERSEVERANT FLAG
“It is an honor for me to carry the flag of my country. It is something magical. I am here to compete in my fourth Paralympics and this time to carry the flag, a great honor,” he said before the opening ceremony in the National State of Tokyo where he led the Uruguayan delegation.
Henry Borges today closes the cycle as a parathlete, a path that he has always pursued without giving up, even when the pandemic prevented them from training.
“There were times when it was impossible to play sports and we had to train at home. But we, the athletes of the world, have this mental strength and courage in our hearts and despite the circumstances, we try to do everything possible every day to achieve the goal, to be in these Games “. EFE
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