Seven of the nine current world rank leaders of Europe are presently spending their week in the city located on the Salzach River, Mittersill. Exceeding the expectations in numbers yet keeping the high quality, Austria, once again delivered their annual OTC. Today, we are halfway through this prestigious camp and with it being the first one of the year, we caught up with the world ranked #1s.
Shirine BOUKLI (FRA)" style="width:100%;height:auto"/>
“Just like everybody else, I want to start the year with good feelings. However, I often like to remind myself of the feeling I had on the mat as a kid when practicing judo with my family: pure joy for judo. Although being world number one gives me a massive boost and positive energy towards my goal of becoming word champion, enjoying judo is just as important.
For me, every camp is always nice because you have a lot of fights, and you need to stay focused with the amount of randori. Also, we have young people here which is a nice change for me, and of course they all want to beat me, so I really enjoy the fact that I need to dig deep, concentrate, and come up with a solution each and every time.”
Denis VIERU (MDA)" style="width:100%;height:auto"/>
“There is always room for improvement, and I am motivated in this new year to progress day by day and to thank the public with a judo as special and beautiful as possible. I really like the training camp in Mittersill, it is at a high level and the world is kind and welcoming.”
-70kg Barbaba MATIC (CRO)
“Starting the second year in a row as world number one is really a good feeling and I am proud of myself that I can continue with the good results. It is certainly a motivation for the new year. I am also very happy about the camp [OTC Mittersill], I am able to train with top ranked judoka so it is certainly good.”
Lasha SHAVDATUASHVILI (GEO)" style="width:100%;height:auto"/>
“It is an amazing feeling coming into the new year as world number one, it shows all the hard work. However, the feeling of becoming world or Olympic champion is incomparable. Mittersill is also amazing, we have very good quality partners which helps us to reach our full potential.”
Romane DICKO (FRA) " style="width:100%;height:auto"/>
“Last year was a very good year for me and starting this year as world number one is the reflection of that. I hope to remain in this position but also to become world champion. I like this camp because we have some judoka with whom we would not normally train with. In addition, we have a lot of heavy weight here too which is certainly good for us, so we can train to be the best we can be in Paris in two weeks time.”
Tato GRIGALASHVILI (GEO) " style="width:100%;height:auto"/>
“I am very happy to be world rank leader and I will do my best this year to be even more successful. The camp [Mittersill] is very strong with good partners. I am very satisfied because this is the level we need. I want to thank the organisers and judoka for this great training camp.”
Ilia SULAMANIDZE (GEO) " style="width:100%;height:auto"/>
“First of all, being world number one is a big motivation ahead of this year. This position is very important in the judo system, and I will aim to remain world number one throughout the whole year. It is my first time in Mittersill, I like it very much, the scenery, the judo atmosphere and strong training camp.”
Judoka
Author: Szandra Szogedi
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