Fourth day of the Abu Dhabi World Judo Championships 2024
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On the fourth day of the World Judo Championships held from 19 to 24 May in Abu Dhabi UAE, the thirty-year-old Irene Pedrotti achieved a prestigious seventh place in the 70 kg category.
This result adds to the seventh individual place and fifth team place, just obtained at the European Senior Championship in Zagreb and the silver at the Grand Prix of Linz in Austria.
In the first match Irene overcame Aleksandra Samardzich (Bih) by wazari, in the second the Puerto Rican Maria Perez and then the English Kelly Petersen Pollard, only to be stopped, in the quarter-finals, by the Greek number 3 in the world Elisavet Telsidout and, in the recovery for the third/fifth final, by the Japanese Tanaka.
It was the first World Championship for Irene, to which she showed up after intense months of training and competing on the World Tour, in search of precious points that would allow her to earn Olympic qualification.
She worked hard without ever sparing herself and making great sacrifices, not belonging, unlike all the other national athletes, to any sports group.
She thus managed to collect numerous points which, thanks to the continental quota, would have allowed her to access the Olympics.
Unfortunately, this dream of hers was shattered when, just a month ago, the thirty-three-year-old Dutch judoka Polling Kim, married to an Italian, decided to change nationality, placing herself ahead of her in the Italian rankings.
So it’s a shame for Irene but, given her young age, her passion and her determination, we are sure that the Olympic dream is only postponed.
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2024-05-24 01:52:24
#Judo #Irene #Pedrotti #Trentino #ranked #7th
