Between the mats and the judogis that monopolize the noise of the Club Judo Arteixo Every afternoon, the accented voice of a Rosario native whose history has always been linked to the tatami is hidden: Miguel Albarracín. Born in a land where football “dominates everything”, he excelled from a very young age in a discipline that soon became his way of life, his way of being. His parents signed him up almost out of obligation to calm his hyperactivity, when he was barely five years old, and since then he chose a path that is “education and training” until the end of his days. Another illustrious Rosario, Gaston Garcialaunched him into the competitive scene and, after earning a corner on the Paseo de los Olimpicos in his hometown, he now shares his knowledge in A Coruña, after a trip that took him from his beloved Argentina to Valladolid, and from the lands of Valladolid to the city of glass in search of a better future.
“My parents signed me up for swimming and judo. I was also good at water, I even have a local medal, but judo was love at first sight and from very early on I realized that it had an extra difference,” says Miguel Albarracín, Olympian in Athens 2004 y Beijing 2008, he appears in Argentina in a discipline in which he won gold and silver in the Pan American Games and another gold, two silvers and three bronzes in Pan American championships. He is now a teacher at the Arteixo school, after living an intense working life that he began in his country’s national team and that had to end due to a year and a half of non-payments. That’s the other side of the coin, the bitter part.
He started judo very young and had his “turning point” at 14 years old. He already obtained medals in higher categories when he was younger. Gastón García, a reference from Rosario in the 90s, was his mentor and the one who helped him reach the elite. A leap that, yes, in Argentina is practically impossible for the majority. “If you are not a footballer, it is very difficult to develop in elite sport.” Unlike Spain, there is very little financial aid and football absorbs everything: “My parents were able to pay for my career.”
It reached its peak in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. An experience that “cannot be described in words”, because it is a “huge pride” to defend a country. From that, he stays above all with “the journey” because reaching the Olympics, which is the “ultimate dream of every athlete”, is the true victory. “I am super proud because doing it from Argentina, an underdeveloped country, is not easy,” he explains.
Shortly after, he decided to hang up his judogi after losing motivation and accepting advice from his psychologist. He stepped aside to begin a new life in teaching. “I wanted to give something to Argentine judo, to give back what they gave me,” he says. And he did it, first, in the selection, through a project with cadets. However, that adventure did not reach its second year. He lived eight months of non-payments and had to look for a drastic turnaround. His options: Brazil, Spain or Germany.
“It was a big change for my family, but my city, Rosario, is very dangerous and I wanted to see how I could take my family to a better place. Although Brazil has great sports development, it was not safe either and in Germany we had to learn the language, so we went to Valladolid,” she says with cruel sincerity. He had to leave his land, where despite being a legend, there was no opportunity for him.
In Spain it was very well received. Especially in Galicia, his next stop and where he is now settled. He began teaching his knowledge at the UDC Judo Club and went through a personal training gym in Oleiros, Well Street; but the efforts of Iván Vicente and José Gacio and his passion for judo brought him back to the scene in Arteixo, where he now imparts his knowledge to children of all ages who dream of one day being like him.
To get here he had to make great sacrifices, “make decisions for the family, which is everything.” She has two daughters, one eleven years old who lives in Argentina, and another younger one, six years old, who is with him in Spain. She looks ahead and with an infinite smile speaks of them as his greatest treasure. At the end of the day, it is his pride in a journey full of difficulties. A journey made hand in hand with judo, his way of being. “It is a path of life, training and learning,” he concludes about that sport that he started at the age of five back in 1986. More than 40 years later, that hyperactive child has become a teacher. Or as he prefers to say, in profess.
2023-10-25 05:57:16
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