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Yahima Ramirez not invited for Grand Prix Tel Aviv

Yahima Ramirez not invited for Grand Prix Tel Aviv

22 Jan 2020 09:10
JudoInside.com - Hans van Essen / judo news, results and photos

Portuguese veteran Yahima Ramirez has been fighting internationally at the senior level for over 25 years. The London 2012 Olympian has earned one Grand Prix medal and one Grand Slam medal. The 40 year old record breaker has been to eight World Championships, 32 Grand Slam events and 46 Grand Prix events for her adopted country of Portugal.

Cuba-born Ramirez, who fought at a staggering 20 competitions last year, earned a bronze medal at the Malaga European Cup in 2019 and is ranked number 33 in the world.

The uchi-mata specialist was the most active judoka on the IJF circuit in 2019 which shows her competitiveness and how well she has managed her health and condition over a quarter of a century in one of the world’s most demanding sports. 

While results and medals have been hard to come by, Ramirez will be aiming to do herself justice and to give a good account of herself in 2020 against the world’s elite in what is almost certainly her final year on the international stage. 

Ramirez is dissapointed in the Federation after not being sent to Tel Aviv for such important qualifiyer. Ramirez: "I was informed by my federation that they were not going to invite me to the Grand Prix in Tel Aviv, contrary to what I expected because I was counting on participating and counted on an investment from my Portuguese Olympic Committee to my participation in the events, but the president of my federation did not want me to participate in this event knowing that for me it is important to try my Olympic dream until the end."

For the Grand Prix in Tel Aviv Portuguese medal hope U78kg Patricia Sampaio was invited. She took a fifth place at the World Championships and is half the age of the experienced Ramirez.

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