The Japanese Athletes Said Goodbye Rio After a Three Day- Exchange with Brazil
The male senior team came to Rio to get acquainted with the environment and for specific ne-waza training.
On Saturday morning, the Japanese Male Judo Team reached the end of a training camp with athletes from the Brazilian Judo Team, held at the Physical Education School of the Army, located in Urca, Rio de Janeiro. The full Japanese senior team has spent seven years without coming to Brazil and now they have taken part in specific ne-waza training (ground fighting), Brazilian specialty. They took this opportunity to know better the host city of the next Olympic Games.
"This is a Japanese tradition. They always go to the host country of the Games the previous year. From my first Olympics in Athens, I remember watching a video of their going to the city, visiting the gym before the Games, "recalls the Olympic winner Leandro Guilheiro (81kg), used to go to Japan for training with the national team and who this time, was the host of the group. "I’ve found it really cool. I’ve spent two years without wearing the kimono due to an injury, now I'm coming back and every opportunity I have to test myself is great. This is even more important when Japan's top athletes, who are very strong, come here" Guilheiro added.
On Monday, he and eight Brazilian senior judokas board for the Grand Slam of Tyumen, held in Russia from 17th to 19th July. Among those who were convoked to participate in the competition, Eduardo Bettoni (90kg), Rafael Buzzacarini (100kg) and Marcelo Contini (73kg) took part in a wonderful training session with the main senior team of Japan and they could adjust the last details before Tyumen. Contini, for example, had the opportunity to exchange experiences with the twice world champion and Olympic vice-champion of his weight category, Riki Nakaya.
"It's always great to train with them. I did a floor workout with Nakaya and trained with 81kg athletes such as Goki Maruyiama and Takanori Nagase. It was a very good experience and I hope they will be here often," the Brazilian lightweight athlete said.
As he did in Athens, the Japanese team will visit the works of the future Olympic venues before returning home later on Saturday, July 11th. And a year from now, they will be back in order to write another chapter in the Japanese judo history at the Olympic Games.
