The national squad athlete Sarah Mehlau from SV Winnenden travels to Ecuador for the Junior World Championships in mid-August. Due to her excellent performances at the European Junior Cups in Paris-Nanterre (gold), Malaga (bronze) and Paks (bronze), the 19-year-old was nominated by the German Judo Federation with five other juniors for this championship. The World Championship will take place from August 10th to 14th in Guayaquil (Ecuador) in the imposing Arena Fedeguayas VPP. Mehlau will start in her weight class up to 70 kg.
Her greatest success so far was last year’s European U21 Championships in Luxembourg. Despite a one-year break from competition due to the pandemic and a previous knee injury, the Winnender qualified for the Junior European Championships thanks to her strong performance at the two Junior European Cups in Budapest and Udine (seventh place each). There, too, she showed that she can keep up with the international elite and also took an excellent seventh place.
And now the World Cup is coming. “For me, this is another step in the right direction,” says national squad athlete Sarah Mehlau modestly about the World Cup qualification.
Sarah Mehlau is currently in eleventh place in the junior world rankings.
In preparation for the World Cup, Mehlau has traveled to numerous different nations for training camps in recent months.
“I feel well prepared because we had the chance to attend international training camps, which unfortunately wasn’t possible for us in the last two years due to Corona.”
final touch
Starting with Alicante, a training camp attended by the very best in the world. This was followed by the last competition before the World Championships in Paks, followed by a three-day training camp. Then it was off to Nymburk for immediate competition preparation. The finishing touches are now taking place in the Ländle with my home trainers Mirko Grosche and Steffen Rommel.
“My good form was confirmed in Paks,” says Sarah Mehlau, describing her preparation. Her strategy: “I’ll step onto the mat with confidence and just do my best. Now it’s time to focus and look forward to the upcoming Junior World Championships in Ecuador.” .
