Judo: Sarah Menezes wants to mix experiences in command of the selection
After 15 years dedicated to the selection on the mat, Sarah Menezes starts this Tuesday (14) a new trajectory, as coach of the Brazilian women's judo team. Olympic champion at the London Games (United Kingdom), in 2012, the woman from Piauí wants to combine the experience gained in her career and learning from the coaches who marked her: Expedito Falcão and Rosicléia Campos (whom Sarah herself will replace).
“Expeto has been my coach since he was nine years old and I met Rosicléia at the age of 15, in the Brazilian team. The learning process was gigantic. I was able to observe them and have my own knowledge as well. I just have to thank them both, who are technicians with different visions, which was very important for my growth”, said Sarah in a press conference via videoconference.
“The key word is persistence, believing in athletes, putting in their minds that it is possible to be champions, as we were in many cycles. Hard work, intelligence, tactics and developing the athletes in each competition they participate”, completed the 31-year-old former judoka, who also attended the Games in Beijing (China), in 2008, and Rio de Janeiro, in 2016.
The new post poses another challenge to Sarah: reconciling the selection preparation with motherhood. In May, the Olympic champion had Nina, her first child with French judoka Loic Pietri.
“It's a delicate situation, but I'm learning day by day, getting to know Nina and passing on details to my mother, who will always be with her. Let's learn to be independent early on and communicate as the world communicates. Life will teach us together”, commented the woman from Piauí.
Sarah is not the only new thing. The women's team will also be coordinated by Andréa Berti, who commanded the national junior team and defended Brazil at the Games in Barcelona (Spain) in 1992 and Atlanta (United States) in 1996. The men's team will be coached by Antônio Carlos de Oliveira Pereira, Kiko, who revealed the two-time world champion João Derly and Olympic medalists Mayra Aguiar (also bi-world) and Daniel Cargnin. He assumes the post that was the Japanese Yuko Fujii, now coordinator.
WELCOME TEACHERS!🥋
— Time Brasil (@timebrasil) December 13, 2021
@JudoCBJ announced that Olympic champions @sarahjudoca and @kikorsjudo , mentor of Olympic medalists @mayraaguiarjudo and @dadscargnin , will be the new coaches of the judo team!
Good job senseis! Oss!👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
📸Alaor Filho and Alex Ferro pic.twitter.com/Ux77bjcx3m
“It's a unique moment, which maybe wasn't in my life plans anymore. I have 35 years of experience in judo, as a coach at a club in Porto Alegre [Sogipa], with important athletes. The cycle of the Games in Paris [France] is shorter, but I believe a lot in the Brazilian athlete and in the people beside me, in my commanders. I'm sure that this plan will be built in many hands so that, in 2024, we can continue on our path of victories”, declared Kiko in the same videoconference.
In addition to Rosicléia, who has been in charge of the women's team since 2005, coaches Luiz Shinohara and Mario Tsutsui also leave the selection. The experienced trio led the generation responsible for 14 Olympic medals and 48 in World Cups.
selective
The new members of the technical committee are in Pindamonhangaba (SP) to follow the selective that defines the national teams for 2022, the first year of the Paris cycle. The disputes take place from Wednesday (15) to Friday (17) and distribute two places per category (seven per gender). The 28 athletes (14 males and 14 females) join the Olympic medalists in Rio 2016 and judokas who were at least seventh in the Tokyo Games (Japan), which are already guaranteed in the team: Rafaela Silva, Mayra Aguiar, Rafael Silva, Daniel Cargnin, Maria Suelen Altheman and Ketleyn Quadros.
“The renovation process has been happening, more accentuated in men. We believe that the result of the selective will show us possibilities in terms of the potential that each coach will be able to work. We have maintained a tradition of Olympic medals since the 1984 Games [in Los Angeles, USA] and this cycle will be no different. The cycle is short and there are the insecurities of the pandemic [of covid-19] that persist, but we are confident”, concluded the High Performance manager of the Brazilian Judo Confederation (CBJ), Ney Wilson, also at the press conference.
Text translated using artificial intelligence.
