Ruvalcaba says goodbye to judo after 26 years and three Paralympic medals

Leonardo Mena Gil

Newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday May 3, 2023, p. a12

Mexico loses the most prolific athlete that judo has produced. Le-nia Ruvalcaba announced her retirement after 26 years on the tatamis.

La Guadalajara is the only judoka who has delivered victories to the country in the Paralympic Games. Gold, silver and bronze are her honors in a discipline in which the tricolor delegation, if we talk about conventional sport, has never been able to win a medal at the Olympic Games. Not even Vanessa Zambotti, one of the great exponents, managed to get on the podium.

She had not yet spoken and Lenia revealed sad news for Mexican sports in her behavior. With a lost look and a broken voice, she took the microphone while the room was filled with a deep silence, waiting for what was about to happen.

A little over a year from Paris 2024 I have made the decision to retireconfessed Ruvalcaba Álvarez, who at the age of 19 went from the conventional category to the adapted one due to visual impairment.

Your choice has nothing to do with a lack of motivation or passion for your discipline. A recurring injury led the 37-year-old athlete to make this decision. High performance is like that, sooner or later it takes its toll.

In an act of self-care I have decided to quit judo. Although I tried to keep up, unfortunately my shoulder is no longer in a position to competeadded the three-time Paralympic medalist.

Lenia’s career was brilliant. Each of the achievements that she traced she achieved with perseverance. Gold in Rio de Janeiro 2016 was the pinnacle. One afternoon was historic in many ways.

The scenario was the most complicated to face. The dispute for the gold metal was against the local and the push of a Brazilian fans that packed the arena. Everything seemed against it, not for Ruvalcaba, who with an unbreakable mentality gave Mexico its first gold in the discipline.

London 2012 was the only event in which he was left off the podium in his four Paralympics participations. Two stalls took her away from another metal. The silver she fell in Beijing 2018 and the bronze in Tokyo 2020.

Separating from judo, on the other hand, is not within his plans; on the contrary, it will continue now from the promotion side.

I will always be fighting for the rights of people with disabilities and raising my voice for athletes, so that they can get the support they deserve.he shared, and pointed out that the management of Mexican sports must be in charge of prepared people.

I firmly believe that having been an athlete does not make you a coach or administrator, we have to work to know public policies and the needs of athletes; You have to start being a comprehensive person to support sports issuesanalyzed the graduate of the University of Guadalajara.