Although this week Zagreb is hosting the 73rd edition for men and 50th edition for women of the senior Europeans, for some it will be their very first time competing at such a prestigious event. Even the likes of Paris Grand Slam 2024 winner, Faiza MOKDAR (FRA) is amongst the premieres. What of their own feelings and expectations?
Faiza MOKDAR (FRA/-57kg)
I feel the urge to go and fight at my first senior Europeans. I want to enjoy it, fight by fight. I want to win, I want the gold medal. Paris is behind me, I don’t think about it anymore.
Every competition is different, you have to take each tournament as it comes, round by round. Paris was good but it is done and I don’t carry any pressure with me becuase of my success there. Now, the focus is only on the Europeans.
Nikola ZOROTOVIC (CRO/-66kg)
I am extremely grateful for this opportunity I have been given. Competing at my first senior Europeans is incredibly exciting and I am ready for the challenge. I will give it all and deliver my best performance on the tatami. It’s a great honour for me to have the opportunity to compete in such a competition especially in front of a home crowd which only motivates me even more to give my best performance.
Manuel PARLATI (ITA/-73kg)
I am very happy to participate in my first senior European Championships, especially being still a junior. I have high expectations in fact, I go to win and do my best, but I still want to enjoy the moment and have fun 100%.
Tais PINA (POR/-70kg)
I feel great and excited to be in my first Senior European Championship. Really happy to have the opportunity to compete in this high level as well. Obviously, I will try to get a good result, knowing that isn’t an easy task. I just want to do my best, always thinking fight after fight. Also, having someone like Telma in the team is an inspiration for everyone. She shows that everything is possible and it is a big motivation.
Dani KLACAR (CRO/-66kg)
I feel great and excited for this tournament, the biggest I’ve done so far, I hope I’ll show my best and my readiness. So my predictions for this tournament are that the fights are done as well as possible, I can’t influence the result, but I will do my best to make the result as high as possible, so we’ll see. I feel fantastic that I have the opportunity to perform at such a big tournament with the home crowd, I can’t wait to go out and hear the cheering of my audience.
Carla TAVARES FERNANDES (LUX/-57kg)
To be honest I feel quite nervous, it‘s such a big event with so many extraordinary athletes whom I look up to, but i‘m also really excited to be able to fight with them. It‘s an amazing opportunity to which I am really grateful for. My goal is to take as much experience from this event as possible, to learn from these top athletes and to see where I stand as an athlete.
The draw of the European Judo Championships Seniors Zagreb 2024 will take place today online at 16:00h (CET). Join our Telegram channel to be up to date with all information. Best of luck to all participants!
Author: Szandra Szogedi