One Year after Her Olympic Gold Sarah Is Preparing for the World Championships
Sarah Menezes celebrates the anniversary of the greatest sports title while winning a Grand Slam and training for the World Championships Rio 2013
One year ago Sarah Menezes applied Yuko and Wazari to the Romanian Alina Dumitru and left the mats from London straight to the history of the Brazilian sport. The first Olympic woman became a judo champion. Sarah Menezes from Piaui, Sarah Menezes from Brazil.
Sarah came to the London Games as a third placed athlete in the World Championships from Paris 2011. After her title, she became leader of her category’s ranking and she is still there. In the latest update, released at the end of the Grand Slam from Moscow, where she was a champion, the Brazilian judoka has over a thousand points ahead of the second placed one. Last year, Sarah and her coach, Expedite Falcão, created a social project together with the Government of the State of Piauí, the Sarah Menezes Training Center, where she teaches judo for underprivileged children who are studying in public schools, aiming to promote the sport practice among children, working on its importance from an early age and developing concentration and physical activity; on the mat, the Olympic champion had important achievements, such as winning the Pan-American title in Costa Rica, besides the one from the mentioned competition in Moscow. Moreover, she was awarded the silver medal in the World Masters from Russia and the World Military from Kazakhstan. Her next goal is the World Championship.
\"Winning the Grand Slam was important from the psychological point of view. It gave me strength for the next month’s World competition. I\'m training hard and dedicating myself to winning the World Championship. In other World competitions where I took part, I was defeated in the semifinals and my goal now is to overcome this phase and win another gold medal for Brazil. “said the athlete, who has been reaching the final in all competitions since April.
The training, however, took a break on Sunday because a big party was organized in Teresina.
\"There was a party for my medal, but we also celebrated my sister’s birthday, Samia, and my father’s, who was on July the 20th,\" said Sarah.
Concerning the current situation of the Brazilian judo – now there are four athletes leading the ranking - Sarah thinks it is not a surprising one.
\"We find this wonderful. Judo is startling in all competition categories, so we are on the right path. The Brazilian Judo Confederation deserves congratulations as well as the Brazilian Olympic Committee, for their work with the athletes who are consequently able to travel to competitions. That is why the judo is so strong,” Sarah Menezes said.
Sarah’s biggest goal for 2013, the World Championships will be held in Maracanãzinho from August the 26th to September the 1st.
