Most judoka have a clear memory of when they learned of judo, how old they were when they started, how it all came to be, but for Anna Monta OLEK of Germany, judo is all she’s ever known, so for her it was a natural direction to become a professional judoka and to one be on the world stage.
My dad was obviously a really good judo fighter and I just grew in to it, but I don’t think I ever had a different type of plan, a different feeling for anything so yes you could say that it was always in my nature to be here! It wasn’t random for me, my dad is there at almost every training, I don’t know how he manages it all as he’s a teacher too. This is actually the only competition he’s missed, but my mum is here.
I didn’t really get to see my mum so much, she is up there but she’s dying, I don’t think she can watch! After the semi final I went to find her in the tribune, she was just sitting there, we were looking at each other and I asked her ‘don’t you want to say anything?’ and she told me ‘I don’t know, I don’t know what happened!’ So I told her I was in the final and she started crying.
It was clearly an emotional moment, not only for Olek’s mum, but for herself too,
I was more than relieved to be in the final I couldn’t help but cry. It was a certain medal, of course not guaranteed gold but it helped me bit a little calmer. Second place is good but sometimes I think third is better because you’ve won the last fight, but if you lose that one, I think fifth is the worst thing that can happen, I’d rather go out straight away in the first round.
Olek has been making waves since before the Paris Olympic Games, shooting towards the top 10 of the -78kg category following her debut on the IJF World Judo Tour, chasing down her team mates Anna Maria WAGNER and Alina BOEHM. Now that they’re in a new cycle, the race begins again for the LA Games and right now, Olek is on fire.
Now a world finalist, how does that sound?
It sounds really good, probably a lot better than I’m feeling right now, but tomorrow or during the week I’ll be more than happy. I actually felt pretty relaxed, and I’m comparing it to the European Championships right now, there I was so nervous, I could barely speak, I was shivering all over, but during the day and all week I was relaxed, I just went fight by fight, I didn’t think about what was coming after. I knew my tactics were pretty good, and also the final was a close call, so it was good.
The -78kg final against Olympic Champion, Alice BELLANDI (ITA) went on for ten minutes,
I needed to get a feeling for the contest first, but for both of us I think it was the same, we were both just trying the same technique over and over again, it was a back and forth with nothing happening. The I tried the o uchi and it turned out to be a mistake and I fell, but this is judo.
Both athletes had picked up two shidos within normal time, so fought fiercely in golden score, did those penalties really affect the way they performed?
I guess so, we couldn’t risk not attacking, but also couldn’t risk bad attacking! We really had to go full in!
It isn’t only a tremendous personal result, but it will factor in in her race for the LA Games. Germany are known for their strong women, especially the amazing level in this category, so how does Olek feel not only competing with the world, but also within her nation for the top spot?
It is pretty good that we’re all at the top pushing each other and we don’t have that opportunity to settle because we also have to fight for the spot in competitions. Training together is also making us better, training with people at the highest level is important.
Judoka
Author: Thea Cowen