Federico Tomás Pérez scratched the bronze medal in judo Rosario 2022 and now wants to have revenge

A reasonable amount of time has passed since the end of the South American Youth Games, however Federico Tomás Pérez, the Atlantic Sportsmen judoka who scratched the bronze medal in the category under 81 kilos, still chews anger for the missed opportunity. He knows that if history were to repeat itself, the end would be different. It is that above a tatami there is no tutía. Whoever wins, wins, and he did very well in the tournament and they didn’t give him any points. He lost by disqualification, because he used a technique that fell headfirst into the opponent’s defense and before that the regulations are inflexible: it disqualifies him. The anger happens because he was unlucky enough to fall like that when he makes an attack and not because they throw him, because in reality no one threw him in the tournament.

A couple of weeks after Rosario 2022, Federico did not avoid the one-on-one with Ovación in which not only spoke of the tournament but also of its beginnings and its future.

If you could rewind the movie, which part would you change?

I change the semifinal, because it was the one that threw me down. When I stuck my head in, I was managing the fight well; If that hadn’t happened to me, I think I could have won.

Did you expect a level like the one in the tournament?

Yes, I was expecting a level like that. It didn’t happen in the result because my head played badly. I was nervous, I felt blocked. Still, I feel that I was at the level and that I could have given a little more.

Did you feel the pressure of being local?

In the final round my whole class came to see me and I sincerely wanted to get rid of the subject but the encouragement was heard the same. It’s very nice that your whole family comes to see you, all your schoolmates, beyond the fact that I asked them not to go but they were the same.

How is your training regimen?

Before the games I trained every day. I also went to different campuses at Cenard where I trained with the senior team. I’m a cadet and next year I’m going to Junior and I’m already training with them. It’s like they’re adapting me to what’s coming, so that I’m adapting to the category. Now I have lowered the loads and on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays I go to the gym and also judo. At Atlantic I have several teachers: Miguel Angel Russo (9th Dan), who is the teacher’s teacher; Maximiliano Pagliarecci, Hernán Serapide, Trinidad Maceres, Andrés Krapf, Gustavo Latucca and Diego Vizzi.

What are your immediate projects?

Participate in the truly important tournaments, which are the Centro República in August, since it is a kind of national but at a club level; and then, at the end of the year, the National and South American. Those three tournaments are the most important but to get there in the best shape I am going to compete in other intermediate tournaments like the one that will be held in Buenos Aires in July.

Why did you lean towards judo?

I honestly played football and it was horrible. So my dad took me to do another activity and I went to judo, something that I liked because from the first moment it was like they made me play. Now, as an adult, I see that what my teacher does in the club I did as a game.

And how were the first steps?

I first started in a gym when I was 8 years old but as I got older there were few boys left to fight. My teacher took me back to where he started, at Atlantic Sportsmen, which is where I am today. There I went from fighting with little boys to doing it with bigger people or who have more tournaments on them. That raised my level.

How is a day in your life?

I am studying at the Carlos Sylvestre Begnis secondary school in Ybarlucea, which is where I am from. When I get out of school, I have lunch, and at around three in the afternoon I come to Rosario to train and I don’t come back until 10 pm. It’s like that every day. It is difficult to reconcile training with studying and that is why I give more importance to school during exam times.

What is your dream?

The dream of every athlete is to go to an Olympic game, but what I am immediately looking for is to win an international medal. I was left with the bitter taste of the games of not being able to make the podium and that is why I want to have my revenge now.