He was hospitalized for 18 days, between March and April, for the new coronavirus (covid-19), most of them in an intensive care unit (ICU) and with 80% of the lung affected. Two weeks after leaving the hospital, Antônio Tenório already resumed training and shortly after he traveled to compete in Baku (Azerbaijan) and Warwick (United Kingdom), thinking about the Paralympic Games in Tokyo (Japan). Right now, after the event on Japanese soil, the biggest name in Brazilian Paralympic judo has finally managed to start the post-covid treatment for real.
“I have been doing a light workout in my gym, until I fully recovered. I would say that I am in my 50%, 60% “, informed the judoka to Brazil Agency .
Owner of six Paralympic medals, four gold, one silver and one bronze, Tenório crashed into the crossbar in his pursuit of his seventh achievement. Overtaken in the semi-final of the 100 kg category by the American Ben Goodrich, he defeated the Uzbek Sharif Khalilov by a wazari (a movement in which the athlete is knocked down with part of the back on the mat) three seconds after the end of the bronze fight, when he also took a wazari . The dispute ended on the gold score (gold point), where he was defeated.
“I was very proud of the performance [en los Juegos Paralímpicos], but that alone is not enough. If I had come with the medal, I would not be unemployed ”, lamented the Brazilian.
At 51, Tenório is capable of competing in the Games in Paris (France). The first challenge after Tokyo will be the Paralympic Judo Grand Prix, in December, at the Paralympic Training Center in São Paulo. A good performance will be essential for him to be called up again to join the sport’s national team, which would help him in the search for sponsorships that will keep him in the fight for a position in 2024.
The new cycle, however, will have a fundamental difference. Athletes with total visual impairment (class B1, renamed J2) will compete separately from those with low vision (class B2 and B3, now only J1). On the other hand, some separations by weight were suppressed. Each class will have four categories. Before, in total, there were seven for men and six for women. The new system is valid from 2022. With this, this year’s Grand Prix will continue to be in the previous model.
a study initiated in 2016 by scientists from the Free University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands) guided the changes. It was based on the consultation of athletes (active and retired), coaches and managers, and five other analyzes: two on the impact of visual impairment in fighting and three on sports performance. The International Blind Sports Federation (IBSA) established a committee to implement the changes.
The main conclusions of the studies were that visual impairment affects performance on the mat, even if athletes start the fight by holding onto each other’s kimono (which is a differential of Paralympic judo, compared to conventional judo) and that there is a disadvantage for judokas. with more severe visual impairment in fights against rivals who, for example, see figures. The separation between completely blind competitors and those with low vision was one of the recommendations.
Tenório fits into the old class B1 (now J2) and was totally blind at age 19 due to an infection in his right eye. He had already lost sight in his left eye at age 13, hit by a castor bean, which detached his retina. The judoka recognizes that athletes who can define figures or images have an advantage over athletes like him, and cites defeat in the fight for bronze in Tokyo. The Uzbek who surpassed it in Japan was a B3 class with the least visual impairment.
“If I hadn’t seen [un poco]He wouldn’t have found me, ”said Tenório, who reflected:“ A well-trained B1 will face a B2 or B3 with ease. A B3, which already learns by watching, is different [de los atletas que aprenden judo a ciegas]. I’ve always been B1, but I trained when I was visually impaired, so I don’t feel much of a difference [de pelear con alguien con baja visión] “.
The Brazilian, of course, will be affected by the changes, as he will start fighting only blind judokas, like him. Tenório, however, believes that downsizing, as a result of class separation, makes more difficult than helpful. In men, four divisions remained: up to 60 kg, up to 73 kg, up to 90 kg and more than 90 kg. Those for women are: up to 48 kg, up to 57 kg, up to 70 kg and more than 70 kg.
“The way it was done, it doesn’t bring any advantage to B1, as they killed three categories. Including mine [hasta cien kilos]. A person [ligeramente por encima de] 60 kilos may have to fight someone of 70 kilos. Or someone who weighs 90 pounds is up against someone over a hundred. It’s not fair since you end up competing with someone who is physically stronger. If the seven categories were kept [masculinas], it would be fairer. Can you imagine the champion of my division [el británico Chris Skelley, que es B2] having to face the Georgian [Revaz Chikoidze, plata en Tokio en la categoría de más de 100 kilos, también B2], with almost 180 kilos? No matter how technical a judoka is, it is impossible ”, analyzed Tenório.
At this time, the four-time champion would compete among athletes weighing more than 90 kilos, where he would have as his rival his compatriot Willians Araújo, silver in the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, in 2016, who already competed with judokas weighing more than 100 kilos. The way out would be for Tenório, currently around 100 kilos, to gain mass to compete with heavier opponents or to lose weight to less than 90 kilos and move down the category.
“At my age, weighing 120 or 130 kilos would be detrimental to my health. It would not work. In 2015 I managed to lower it to 90 kilos. It would not be impossible, but it would need quality training and support ”, he concluded.
Text translated by artificial intelligence.
