Adrián González, on the right, with his bronze medal on the podium of the best. /
JUDO
Happy debut of the young local athlete with the Spanish team, who won a relevant bronze medal
Historical medal for judo from Aviles with the bronze medal for Adrián González in his debut with the Spanish team that played the European Cup in Malaga this weekend. An achievement that is not easy at all because he arrived at the event with physical discomfort from which he had not recovered, and the level of his rivals.
Avilesino overcame to be among the top three in the league disputed in the category of + 100 kilos. A victory against the German Paavo Ploehnert and three defeats against the Japanese Mitsuki Sugawara, the Ukrainian Oleksii Halaka and the Estonian Karl Priilinn Turk, served for Adrián to climb to the podium.
A medal that is more important on a personal level since Adrián returned to compete three years ago. “I’ve outdone myself because I suffered a very serious back injury and it still gives me some respect to compete.” That injury is still latent: «It is the breakage of a peak of a vertebra, no nonsense. We are talking that if the bone marrow comes out I will stay in a wheelchair. For five years I was not competing and I am a little afraid of falls. I couldn’t imagine being on a date like this and it’s going to mark me.”
His coach at the Avilés Judo Club, Carlos Fernández, did not hide his pride: «A great result because we went to this event with the intention of learning with judokas who are in the top 10 worldwide. There is a long way to go, but a medal at European level helps us continue. We are facing a very young heavyweight, to be trained and we have to go step by step, without burning stages, looking for tactical and technical improvements that help us grow.
The Avilesian coach knows Adrián’s evolution: «It has cost us a lot to get him ahead since he was a kid, to get him to be able to face each other face to face on a tatami and today we are moving forward, but knowing that we still have a long way to go and we have to do it in a very restrained way calculating each step so as not to confuse us».
Example of overcoming
At 19 years old, Adrián González is an example of improvement and work. Hence, the three metals obtained in the last three competitions in just a month and a half since the bronze of the European Cup is added to the runner-up of Spain played in Madrid and the Universitario held in Murcia. Ahead of him is the three-day training stage with the national team and on the way back think about the last day of the National League where Judo Avilés will fight for promotion to Second Division. “I’m really looking forward to it and trying to apply some of the things I’ve learned.”
