The Brazilian Team Starts the Year with a Training Camp in Russia
The Team starts the classifying year to the Olympic Games 2016 in the Olympic city Sochi, where the Winter Games will be hosted in less than a month.
In 2014 the score begins to be set for the Olympic ranking and now it’s time for the Brazilian national team to start the season by competing in the country that will host in August the World Championship. The Sochi City from Russia receives 15 athletes and three members from the multidisciplinary committee of the national team. It will be a first test for many of the athletes who got qualified for the national team after the National Selection Competition Rio 2016 - Part II, held last December.
\"The idea of bringing together younger athletes, except for Erika (Miranda) - who feels great when she is training abroad - was to get them training with various fighting styles. Russia is among the most important world judo schools and the training it promotes is a very tough one. The fighting style is quite different. So, these young athletes must adapt to it, because many countries adopt the same style, especially the ones from the Eastern Europe. This way they will gain experience” said Ney Wilson, the Performance Director of the Brazilian Judo Confederation.
Among the Brazilian athletes who go to Russia, only two of them did not take part in the Selection Competition: Erika Miranda and Rafael Buzacarini. They were automatically classified thanks to their international ranking. The coaching staff has to evaluate now how the new and experienced athletes meet and give them a chance to exchange their experience with the athletes from traditional schools, such as Russia and Japan.
\"It\'s a great opportunity. The Japanese school is more similar to the Brazilian one than the Russian, but they are different types of training. So it is important that these athletes, especially the younger ones, exchange experiences at such a level, “Ney Wilson added.
Leaving the Brazilian summer, the athletes will find themselves in a harsh cold city, which will be home for the Winter Olympics. This competition begins the following day after the national delegation comes back: February 6th. The cold temperature, at least during the first training week, is forecast to zero degree, but with negative thermic sensations.
\"I think this is another important factor. Some of these athletes did not use to travel abroad very much and they need to get used to different temperatures and environments. This is part of our work because we participate in championships all over the world. The Russian cuisine is also different from the Brazilian one, and this is one more obstacle. So we can view the situation like this: we\'re going to war and at war we learn a lot. But we have already got -30 degrees in Russia, so we are not going for such a cold city. This is why the Olympics will be held there, \"added the Director.
\"This trip will be excellent for the group, because our season starts now with a high class training where both Russian and Japanese athletes take part. Whoever waits for a year of many competitions and maybe achievements, could not have a better start,\" Rafael Buzacarini said.
The Coach Mario Tsutsui and the physiotherapists Fábio Minutti and Gabriel Bogalho join the 18-member delegation. The group will stay in Russia for three weeks until day 5/2. Another group of the Brazilian team will gather on 26/1 in São Paulo, where it remains until 1/2. The season’s first official competition is Paris Grand Slam on March 8th and 9th. The counting of the points for the Olympic 2016 ranking score starts in May.
List of the athletes convoked to the training camp
48kg - Gabriela Chibana
48kg - Nathália Brígida
52kg - Érika Miranda
52kg - Raquel Silva
63kg - Erika Ferreira
70kg - Bárbara Timo
78kg - Samanta Soares
+78kg - Rochele Nunes
60kg - Eric Takabatake
60kg - Allan Kuwabara
66kg - Vinicius Sakamoto leal
73kg - Eduardo Katsuhiro Barbosa
81kg - Gustavo Assis
100kg - Rafael Buzacarini
+100kg - Gabriel Santos
