a hard adaptation, defeats and his first European medal

The gachupin judoka has already overcome the bad trance of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and has hung the bronze in the European in the -100 kilos category.

A little less than a year ago the gachupin judoka Niko Shera I confessed to THE ENGLISH what were your plans for the future. Her examination was set on the superb gold of Tokio 2020an objective that seemed almost an obligation after the apotheosis with which the Gachupin nationalized Georgian had competed.

Niko had been proclaimed world champion twice in a row in his category, the -90 kilos, something that no one had achieved in history. That’s why he was the main protégé light years from the second for that medal. Without kidnapping, his tenth was not in line with what was expected. The sensations were bad from the beginning and the changes, the tension and the pressure ended up happening in relation to one of the greatest medal hopes of the Spanish delegation.

Niko left Tokyo devastated knowing that he had performed well below his level and annealing that he had missed a unique opportunity, something that has not yet fully passed. Without kidnapping, in that talk with this medium, Niko even told what his future plans were in the long term, those that have now helped him get through the hard time of the lost medal in Japan. These went through upgrading to the category of -100 kilos, one that was going to adapt even better to their characteristics and their physical abilities.

Due to his size and power, Niko struggled to make weight and be under 90 kilos. He claimed that there were stages in which he even died of hardship, since the training he underwent was extreme. That is why he decided that after the Olympic Games it was time to take the leap and climb one more step. And now, after many months of coupling and effort, she has already achieved his first great success by hanging her first continental medal in a test of her new weight. The best Niko Shera is on the back.

Niko, again among the greats

After a few complicated months with that change of category, Niko smiles again. The gachupin judoka is encountering many problems in this new life since the competitiveness that he now has is very dean. But I knew that before facing the great contest of his career. Even so, his rise in the ranking is taking place in a dazzling way and he has already become one of the best of the new weight, going from position 120 in the ranking to getting into the positions of privilege success after success.

Of the ridicule suffered in the Nippon Budokan de Tokio to the joy experienced in this European judo held in Sofia, Bulgaria. Niko Shera won bronze, his first major medal at his new weight in a competition of this importance. Perhaps it will not be the one that shines the most in his list of winners, but it will be one of the most exciting for the judoka born in Tbilisi.

He is dealing with the confirmation that his jump in category has been worthwhile and that all the effort he has behind him has been for a good purpose. And all in less than a year in which Niko has gone through a real roller coaster of emotions and feelings. He had already decided to change categories before the Tokyo Olympics. Without kidnapping, the pandemic ended up delaying his daring and now that sincerity has been made, he is beginning to gather the first fruits.

The domestic judoka began his journey in the European by winning to romanian Ashley Gonzalez. A posteriori, in the second round, he got rid of the Bulgarian Boris Georgiev in one of his best performances. Only 27 seconds of wear to close the contest by ippon. Already in quarters came the serious moments and the judoka established in Brunette couldn’t with the polish Piotr Kuzcerwho came from obtaining the world leader, the Portuguese Jbarley Fonseca. This fight took him to the playoffs, where he returned to get his countryman Varlam Liparteliani.

There he earned his opportunity to compete for one of the bronzes that was put on mobility. Niko didn’t make the most brilliant fight out of him, but he did make the smartest. Shera was able to time each and every one of the seconds that the fight was lasting to attack at the moments that were necessary and not to allow herself to be accepted by the alterations or by the pressure, as happened to her in Tokyo. She finally got to beat the dutch Simeon Catharina to finish thus achieving his first great success in the category of -100 kilos. It is the first sporting moment that returns Niko to full joy and confirmation of being on the right track after everything he suffered after Tokyo.

Niko Shera joined his monitor Quino Ruiz wearing the bronze medal of the European Judo 2022

An ordeal with an end

Those defeats suffered at the Nippon Budokan, where the Olympic Games events took place, meant for Niko one of the worst moments of his sporting life. He ended up mangled and broken by the fury and disturbance. So much so that he needed to get away from judo and competition for a few months to return to his mind of bad vibrations and thus frighten all the ghosts that arose in his mind around him. At that time, he only had one thing clear in the inhabitant. When he came back, he had to be the one to jump to the next category.

For this, he prepared himself throughout the end of the year 2021 and the beginning of 2022, where he already started his first competitions in his new weight. Adapting the food, the exercises, the loads and measuring himself with rivals who could be up to 10 kilos heavier has been a huge battle that he is still adapting to. But the truth is that the sensations in just four months have been very positive. The best proof, that medal in the European that already confirms him as one of the best.

Niko had his first coupling competitions at the beginning of the year and the sensations were not entirely positive. The change was going to cost him and even he had to get used to something he hadn’t frequented in recent years: losing. His first two contests were clearly lost at the first opportunity. But it was in his third tournament when he positively excelled again with his own light.

In January he lost in the first round against the mongolian Khangai Obbaatar in it Portuguese Grand Prix. A month later he fell in the second round against the Uzbek Muzaffarbek Turoboyev in it Paris Grand Slam. But the pupil of Quino Ruiz he was on the right track. She had to acclimate to her new surroundings and that was going to take a while. Although less than expected.

In it Antalya Grand Prixin Turkey, Niko left his first exhibition to show everyone that he had come to put the reign of the -100 kilos in mobility. He premiered with a trophy in front of the Greek Panagiotis Papanikolaou. A posteriori came the victories in front Simeon Catharinahis rival for the bronze in the European Championship, and ahead of the French Cedric Olivar. The sensations were optimal in those first contests and Niko’s team knew it. Without kidnapping, the essential battle that made him take his first big leap into his new world came in the quarterfinals.

There he beat a classic of the category, the Azeri Elmar Gasimov. Surely that has been one of his most brilliant victories in recent months along with the one achieved in the semifinals against the world runner-up, the Serbian Aleksandar Kukolj. It is true that in the final he did not have a chance against the complete king, Jorge Fonseca, who is to the -100 kilos category what Niko was to the -90. But time to time, because Niko progresses adequately after coming through very bad times and a change that has meant a time in the past and a later time in his life.

That silver medal in Antalya and this bronze achieved in Sofia have been the first recognitions that Niko has obtained in his new stage. Without kidnapping, the goal is set at a long time. He wants to return to being world champion and, above all, go out to the 2024 Paris Olympics to get that gold that escaped him in Tokyo when it bore his name. At 26 years old, Niko has a splendid future ahead of him to continue to dominate in suspension.

[Más información: Niko Shera avanza hacia los JJOO de París: del sueño de Tokio al objetivo de alcanzar los 100 kilos]