Portuguese medal hope Patricia Sampaio sets new standards

This week the judo elite was in Germany. First of all for the Grand Slam in Düsseldorf last weekend followed by the international training camp. Portuguese talent Patricia Sampaio is preparing for the Olympic Games in July in Tokyo. She is always improving and now trying to reach the final blocks at World level.

Sampiao was already fifth at the World Championships and lost her bronze medal fight in Düsseldorf as well. Still she sees the improvements despite the disappointment of not reaching the medal. JudoInside’s Diana Süss talked with the 20 year old Portuguese.

I don’t do what I like and I do what I have to do

I am in a category where I need to be physically strong and I need to be fit, so I like the gym. Obviously I do what I need to do, also bicycle, running, I just have to do it from my coach, so I do it and it’s worth it. But I do volleyball for fun. My clear goal is now to reach the final block in each event. Of course as a kid you want to go to the Olympic Games as the biggest competition ever. When I seriously started winning I fought guys because I fought young guys. I started to be competitive and thought about the Olympics since 2017 when I saw my chances to qualify which was already sooner than I expected. So now I have reached the top 8 of the Olympic qualification, at the Games you just don’t know, anything can happen there.

I am like a diesel

“We get some money from the National Olympic Committee and my Federations gets me at the events. I live in a residence at a sports centre.“ The double bronze medallist at the World Junior Championships 2017 and 2018 made some serious steps in her career. She was European junior champion in 2018 and 2019.

“I am like diesel, I need to warm up and grown into the competition. Last year I lost my first fought in the Grand Slam and this year things are going better and I reached the final block. But my first match is usually a bit more difficult and got to go through that phase. You have to be mentally strong. After my loss I cried and my coach said I can have five minutes to cry and recover and then focus on the next fight. “

“I must now show consistency and prove that I can reach the final block always and try to win medals instead of losing that medal fight. I need to be consistent in each final block and develop and improve.”