The Brazilian National Judo Team Is Training in Mexico for the Pan-American Sports Festival
Henrique Guimarães is the first to train coaches from 18 countries.
After the arrival of the 140 athletes from 18 countries that make up the ODEPA /PASO (Pan American Sports Organization) the training camp started. This training camp is a stage before the judo competition within the Pan-American Sports Festival, at the State High Performance Center, located in Pachuca.
The athletes were welcomed by Salvador Franco Cravioto,the general director of the Hidalguense Sports Institute, who said he was delighted to be the host of the event and asked the athletes to give their best in the competition, and take advantage of these free days to learn and discover new techniques of the sport.
The theoretical and practical clinics were opened for coaches. The first speaker was Henrique Guimarães, bronze medalist in the 1996 Atlanta Games. The topics covered on the first day of theoretical clinic, held on Septemebr 8th, were fighting positions, movements of attack, the most common mistakes athletes commit, among others.
The Brazilian delegation will consist of Eric Takabatake (60kg), Marcelo Fuzita (66kg), Eduardo Katsuhiro Barbosa (73kg), Vinicius Panini (81kg), Eduardo Bettoni (90kg), Renan Nunes (100kg), Walter Santos (100kg +), Gabriela Chibana (48kg), Eleudis Valentim (52kg), Manoella Costa (57kg), Erika Ferreira (63kg), Barbara Timo (70kg), Samantha Soares (78kg) and Claudirene Cezar (78kg +). The technical committee will be formed by Amadeu Moura, head of the delegation, and the coaches Fulvio Miyata and Mario Tsutsui.
The Pan-American Sports Festival is a preparation stage for the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. ODEPA’s purpose is to create a high level competitive environment as well as clinics and courses for coaches and athletes.
By September 30th, when the event which began on July 11th ends, athletes from 22 different sports, apart from judo, will compete. These sports are: athletics, badminton, bowling, boxing, canoeing, cycling, fencing, skiing, gymnastics, karate, weightlifting, wrestling, swimming, skating, modern pentathlon, racquetball, rowing, squash, taekwondo, table tennis, shooting with bow and triathlon. About 3600 athletes and 1050coaches will be attending the event. If we add the delegates and organizers, the number of people involved exceeds 4500 people.
