If you are a judoka competing in the women’s -63kg category, you should definitely consider migrating to Slovenia! There’s an almost guaranteed gold at the next Olympics for the taking. The country has been firing up Olympic champions in this weight class since the London 2012 Games where the first to taste victory was Urška Žolnir, with Tina Trstenjak following suit in Rio 2016. Last week in Paris, Andreja Leški joined the golden lineup. What is it about these ladies, this country and this weight category that makes them so successful? Trstenjak offered her insight.
I don’t have a definitive answer to that. Jokingly, I could say that in Slovenia we only choose girls who weigh 63 kg to work with! But that’s not the case. It just happened naturally. It started with Urška, continued with me and Andreja, and I hope it will continue in the future. We have a different training system in Slovenia. We train by club, and because we weren’t in the same club we rarely trained together. With Andreja Leški’s medal Slovenia now has seven Olympic medals in judo, five of them in the -63 kg category and three of them gold! It’s both, crazy and amazing!
So although we don’t have the recipe to their secret, Trstenjak was onsite inhaling and most likely relieving every single moment of it. How was it for you watching history repeat itself?
It was a great day for Slovenia, Andreja and all the fans who enjoyed great judo. Andreja gave an outstanding performance, showing her best from the morning. She really deserved to win. When I retired I knew it was time for a new generation. I have achieved everything possible and I am happy with my career. It’s wonderful to see that the -63kg category really belongs to Slovenia now and I’m glad I had the opportunity to watch it live in Paris.
After being a sparring partner in London and competing in Rio and Tokyo, watching Paris was an amazing experience with a fantastic atmosphere, a packed venue and incredible judo. It was wonderful to see people I used to compete with and to see Andreja on her way to becoming an Olympic champion. It was a phenomenal day!
Everyone is excited to see whether Leški will be running for LA2028. If she does, in theory, it is worth looking forward to reserving a medal for her. And while we are waiting, let’s enjoy watching the next generation of Slovenian judo stars blossom before our eyes.
Author: Szandra Szogedi