Argentine judoka Agustina De Lucía secured a silver medal in the 63-kilogram division at the judo competition, overcoming a financial crisis triggered by the loss of her government scholarship and the necessity of taking out personal loans to compete. According to reports from Diario Registrado, the Rosario-born athlete entered the tournament without state backing after losing her funding following the 2023 Pan American Games, where she missed out on a bronze medal.
The Financial Toll of Elite Competition
The road to the podium required extensive financial juggling. De Lucía detailed to Buenas Tardes China the multi-source efforts needed to fund her training and travel this season. Her brother covered flight tickets, a loan from her boyfriend provided liquid cash, and her mother baked and sold pastries to cover daily expenses for a Grand Prix trip to Peru.
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“For the Apertura National Championship, I took out a loan because I didn’t have nearly 600,000 pesos to put down; now we are all making a giant effort to finish paying it off,” De Lucía said, as reported by Diario Registrado. With competition expenses mounting and state assistance halted, the judoka stated that she planned to begin distributing her curriculum vitae to prospective employers to secure an income and settle her debts.
Scholarship Cuts and the Libertarian Administration Policy
The state backing vanished under the libertarian administration’s performance criteria. Following her fourth-place finish at the 2023 Pan American Games, officials informed her that missing the podium meant losing her financial stipend. “If you don’t have the bronze, you don’t have the scholarship,” management told her at the time, according to her interview. The cutoff severely impacted her training quality and disrupted her qualifying campaign for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
“After the Pan American Games where I lost the bronze, they took away my scholarship and that’s when I started looking for work,” De Lucía explained. She began teaching judo classes to stay afloat, though she admitted the dual burden degraded her athletic preparation and subjected her to a deeply stressful period marked by heavy emotional distress.
Next Steps and Future Uncertainty
Despite the silver medal performance at the judo competition, De Lucía’s long-term athletic future remains unconfirmed. When asked if the recent podium finish might restore her funding, she acknowledged the immediate uncertainty while maintaining a pragmatic outlook on her employment prospects outside of sport.
“No, not yet. For the moment… on Monday I have to go look for a job,” she told reporters with a laugh, highlighting the stark contrast between athletic visibility during major competitions and the financial reality athletes face once the cameras turn away.
