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The frustration of the Valladolid judoka Alberto Gaitero: “He could have done an incredible Olympics, the sanctions were very to the limit”

Accustomed to successes, victories, medals and trophies, defeats, failures and bad results are hidden. Sometimes the greatest success is getting there, regardless of the results. Alberto Gaitero is a judoka born in Valladolid in 1996 who had to come back from the Tokyo Olympics in the first round after ending up noticeably bruised and disqualified against the Ukrainian Georgii Zantaraia.

Their combat was not as expected. He had to leave three times for blood, there were many stops and was finally disqualified after a dubious sanction in which he was blamed passivity for not attacking. However, Alberto Gaitero was the only Valladolid man to go to Tokyo, something that can be considered a resounding success. The toughness of qualifying, the sacrifice involved in spending four years fighting for “the dream” and everything learned along the way lessen any sense of failure. Because no, Alberto has not failed.

Question- Who is Alberto Gaitero?

Answer- I’m a 25-year-old boy who started judo at 5, because my mother pointed me out. He was a very lively boy and they advised him on such a sport. I started in my town, Laguna de Duero, at the club where I still continue to this day, Judo Club Finisterre. When I was little I did both judo and soccer, but at the age of 13 I decided to continue with judo, because it was what I liked the most and I was better at. Besides, it was what I wanted to do the most and well, I’m still here today.

Q-When did you start competing professionally?

R- From junior cadet you start to take it more seriously. You start to make international outings, I was champion of Spain … I think it is from that last year as a cadet that I saw a professional future in judo.

Q-What is the situation of judo in Castilla y León?

R- In Castilla y León there is very poor judo and it makes me very sad. And it is that there is not only little, it is that it does not grow and I think there is less and less. Many things have to change so that in this community there is a lot of promotion of grassroots sports and they bet on judo and that they work well from the federations. I would say that we are one of the communities in which there is less judo in all of Spain.

Q- And speaking of Spain, how is judo in Spain?

R- At the national level it is very good. There are many leading communities and many places where judo is done. In Galicia or Madrid judo is done in all schools, it is amazing. The level of Spain is very good, there are many children who practice it and it is one of the sports that at school level has many registered licenses. The level is fantastic, although you can always improve things.

Q- First Olympic experience, what has it meant for you?

R- It was my lifelong dream. It has always been my goal and achieving it has been a source of great pride and satisfaction for me. Besides being there is amazing, I classified among the 8 seeds that for me was an important objective. In addition, I arrived in good shape and having worked well, although in the end things did not turn out in the best way. Even so, I am very happy to have achieved it and to be a benchmark and try to show how I see judo.

Q- Do the Olympics magnify everything?

R- Yes it is true that the Olympic Games are something totally different. For example, they are talking about us now, but we are people who have been competing for 4 years in an Olympic qualification that is very tough. The media focus gets too big during the games and it’s a shame we don’t get talked about for the rest of the years. I hope that little by little it will change, in the end judo worldwide is a sport that is followed a lot.

Q- How was your match?

R- It was a pretty rare match where I came out three times for blood and there were a lot of stops. The way I felt I could have done much better, I think I could have done an incredible Olympics. But in the end that happened, it was a really weird fight. On top of that, I couldn’t be with my coach in the chair because of the measures, they also disqualified me for passivity, for not attacking. It was a very long fight in which the last sanction was very to the limit. I have a bit of a bad taste in my mouth and of frustration because I think I could have done well and there were little things that I did not like.

Q- Do you take an apprenticeship from these Olympics?

R- In any competition you learn whether you are good or bad. You have to evaluate, correct mistakes and enjoy the journey. This in the end is not only the experience and the learning that I take from the competition, but from all the path that I have followed and that has made me raise my level and my state. This is going to be good for me when I come back, to come back from above.

Q- Do you see yourself at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games?

R- Man, see me I see me (laughs). But hey, what I want now is to rest, get energy, that my body asks me well and be able to make a classification as tough as judo is.

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