“After Tokyo I considered stopping competing”

He had the worst draw that he remembers, he had defeated the current Olympic champion, the Japanese Naohisa Takato, in the semifinals, in a fight that he remembers as “very, very difficult” that he had to overcome and the Uzbek Dilshodbek Baratov awaited him in the final. The previous ritual was the same as always: wearing the helmets and concentrated to the rhythm of reggaeton. The last match, on the other hand, was different: he was risking everything and he won by improvising with a technique that he had never practiced before in competition: a guruma kata that was worth gold.

«In the gym there is a partner who does it, and one day I stayed explaining it. In combat there was a moment when I said: I’m going to try ». And she came out. The referee indicated waza-ari, but Garrigós remained impassive. “He was so tired and wanted to be so focused in case he continued the fight that he did not want to mislead me.” But he finished and, yes: «Everything exploded. It is a joy to achieve a dream that he had since he was little. Leaving the tatami and being able to hug Quino, who has been working on this for years, is something very exciting. His girlfriend, also a judoka Ana Pérez Box, was waiting for him outside the tatami to melt into another hug.

May 7th was engraved in the memory of the man from Madrid and in the history of Spanish sport after winning gold at the World Cup in Doha, a success that only Miriam Blasco (1991), Isabel Fernández (1997) and Niko Shera have achieved so far. , his tatami partner and so far the only two-time world champion (2018 and 2021).

«I have already assimilated everything. I have returned to training and routine. I needed to have some quiet time, spend time with family and enjoy success and be able to celebrate it.” Garrigós speaks calmly sitting on the tatami that has brought him to the top, the Dojo Quino, in Brunete (Madrid) already known as the Quino Ruiz factory for being the architect of the last two world champions.

He arrived there 12 years ago, when a very young Fran was beginning to stand out in international championships. «I started at the Lee gym when I was 4 years old. My parents decided to sign me up because I was very naughty and so that I would come home more tired and once I was a cadet and had gone to the European championship and won national medals, I decided to take a step and look for the best option and it was Brunete ».

In these 12 years, Quino has become his “second father”. “He is always there, on and off the mat. He is able to bring out the best in each person, he is passionate about judo ». That explains why the last world champions have left the humble gym in the Madrid town, where they train from Monday to Saturday, morning and afternoon. A routine that the athlete combines with the work of a nutritionist and a psychologist who help him learn from victories and defeats and overcome the pressure that almost makes him give up.

With Quino by the hand, he has gone through two Olympic events and is on his way to a third, but his sports career could have ended long before he was world champion. “After Tokyo I asked myself if I wanted to continue competing”, recognize. «It had been a good year, I expected to play a role and we had a lot of pressure because they only talked about judo. We had won four medals in the World Cup a few months before and I did not expect to lose in the first match».

That defeat made him reflect and consider many things. «I decided to spend a few months quietly, I kept coming to train, but enjoying myself. I finished the race and then competed again to see if I still had the desire, and that’s when I realized that I like the competition and that I want to continue competing.”

After that crisis of faith, he has achieved his best sporting results: two European golds (Lisbon, 2021 and Sofia 2022) and a world bronze (Budapest, 2021) before putting the finishing touch in Doha that will place him, if nothing goes wrong, as one of the great favorites in the Paris 2024 Games. «I am looking forward to it, I really want to play a good role and learn from the mistakes I’ve had both in Tokyo and in Rio.”

Spain has not won an Olympic medal for more than 20 years. You have to go back to the year 2000, when Isabel Fernández won gold in Sydney. However, Garrigós is optimistic. «Spanish judo is in a good moment, it has been showing it throughout the international circuit, we are always on the podium and we hope that the year in Paris will be a good year for judo, which deserves it».

However, there is still a whole year left in which, in addition to preparing himself in sports, he continues preparing his future beyond competition. “Judo is something you can’t live on and you have to have a way out for the future”point.

Yours is clear. Last year she finished her degree in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences and now she is studying a high performance master’s degree. “I would like, above all, to be the coach of a national team or president of the Spanish federation.”