Santiago de Chile.- One of the medals that will be most remembered in these XIX Pan American Games will be the team title of our mixed judo team. Rarely does a journalist go hoarse trying to generate energy from the stands. Rarely will we experience a final like this, decided in the last fight, with equality of shido and in which Andy Granda lost his last name to simply be Andy Great!.
Photo: Roberto Morejón
It was after 2 in the afternoon when the happiest outcome for Cuba occurred on the tatami, in the closing of a sport in which historically the greatest rivalry has fallen between ours and Brazil. The match lasted almost half an hour and nerves raised tensions to such a degree that almost no one was left sitting in the Contact Sports Center.
After relatively calmly dominating Mexico (4-1) and the Dominican Republic (4-2), our five representatives (we were always missing one on the team because we did not have anyone at this event to cover the women’s 57 kg division) came out dressed in blue against Brazil, also superior without so much demand over Venezuela (4-1) and Colombia (4-0).
After the greeting in the center of the tatami and the initial defeat by rule in the 57 kg, Magdiel Estrada succumbed to Gabriel Falcao and the green-yellow fans began their celebrations to the rhythm of samba. The brand new champion Idelannis Gómez did not believe in the two defeats that she had accumulated in her young career against Luana Carvalho and gave her an ippon that lifted her spirits. Good warrior reminds many of the Olympic runner-up Yalennis Castillo!
The referee then called Iván Silva (bandaged almost his entire head due to a break in his left cheekbone in the semifinal) and Rafael Macedo. Precise in each attack, the man from Matanzas took the victory by wazari and the match was embraced by two smiles. The South American support was no longer heard as much, but an unmissable fight would come: Idalis Ortiz versus Beatriz Souza.
Our Olympic champion, winner in the individual round, once again had the tough resistance of the Carioca, who took advantage of a false attack to take her team’s third success and put the crown just one victory away, which had to be consecrated by the veteran medalist world and Olympic Rafael Silva, as long as the Cuban Andy Granda allowed him to.
And it was then that the drama of the outcome was expressed. The Cuban started at the bottom due to shido, but quickly rerouted his combat strategy against a burly rival who surpasses him by more than 50 kilos. But both know each other too well, to the point that in 11 previous fights, six victories were for the Brazilian to five for ours. With intelligence, Andy squeezed out his physical reserves and achieved the ippon by disqualification.
Everything was the same as they entered and to define it you had to go to the electronic and public draw. The surprise of technology meant that Andy and Silva, still agitated, were the heroes or villains of this struggle. The journalist no longer had a voice left to encourage him, while on the bench Idelannis preferred not to watch the outcome; Magdiel and Iván guided him like brothers; and Idalis only sentenced him: “You decide, you are Great.”
The difference here is that it would not be the classic 4 minutes, but directly to the golden rule and whoever scored first would give the gold to their team. Andy turned on his reserve and attack after attack, with greater agility and skill, he was achieving what he needed; shidos after shidos. It was impossible for the Brazilian to withstand the Cuban’s “fighting train” and on more than one occasion he passively threw himself onto the tatami until the referee sent them to the center and declared final success.
“Cuba, Cuba, Cuba…” was heard in the venue and Andy smiled as if all the happiness in the world was at his side to share. Supported by his teammates, his coach Julio Alderete and the girls’ coach, Yordanis Arencibia, he could not help but be grateful for the trust. «We won, damn…»
It was already 2:45 in the afternoon and the voiceless journalist then ran to write this chronicle. Today Cuba was Jewish and anyone who doubts it can go back to the television images or reread these letters over and over again. No other discipline has contributed more golds to our delegation than the judogi troop. The photos and joy were from the five champions, but also from the rest who supported the warm-up and in the stands.
I run the risk of having been too descriptive. But I am not exaggerating if I conclude that I have been left defenseless with emotion before a gold that went from difficult to possible, from green-yellow to red and blue, from Brazil to Cuba, from Granda to Grande. !Very big!
Photo: Roberto Morejón
Master in Communication Sciences. Deputy Editorial Director of the Workers Newspaper since 2019. Editor-in-chief of the Sports Editorial since 2007. He has participated in journalistic coverage of the Central American and Caribbean Games, Pan American Games, Olympic Games, Intercontinental Baseball Cup, World Baseball Classic, World Baseball Championships. Judo, among others. Professor at the José Martí International Institute of Journalism, in Havana, Cuba.
2023-11-01 06:10:28
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