The warrior in Joshiro Maruyama

We will all understand the pain of Joshiro Maruyama, or will we never? It's very tough to be a world champion and not be able to fight and represent your country as you lost that one battle, in that 24th minute. Athletes though, will understand the pain of a severe loss. We've all been through it. In a series of opinionated articles, Polish former athlete Krzysztof Wiłkomirski shines a light over that unique battle.

As a former athlete and now a fan who often tries to put in the shoes of other players and face their problems, I watched the interview with Joshiro Maruyama. He was crying. Such a warrior! Even though I never met him, it was hard to watch.

I had similar feelings when in February excerpts from the press conference with Kosei Inoue - world champion and Olympic champion, and currently the head coach of the Japanese national judo team - were shown. The legend of the sport. Authority. He announced the composition of the broad team for the Tokyo Olympics. In fact, he had to inform many world champions that there was no place for them in the squad ... He said it while crying.

It is hard to suppose that Kosei Inoue is not a tough man and a fighter. He won everything he could, he achieved everything in judo. But even he could not hide the pain and tears at the moment when he had to cancel the athletes who pour blood and sweat for many hours every day, and in their profession are definitely at the top of the world. Emotions prevailed when he announced his decisions.

Sport is unique. On the one hand, it is completely extraordinary, perfect, fantastic, but on the other, it is brutal, bloody and ruthless, like nothing else in this world. For me personally, it is one of the most beautiful adventures you can experience in your life. It definitely gives more than you need to invest in it. And the more time and effort we put into it, the more beautiful it pays back to us. Often returns with interest, but only when we really give a lot. Is it always like that? No! But what is certain in life? It seems to me, however, that although not everyone will become an outstanding athlete, and only a few will go down in history after winning the Olympic Games, in the end everyone will actually benefit a lot from sport, in many respects.

Sport is unique. The same situation causes, at the same time, very extreme emotions. Often, there are not even seconds, but their parts, what decide that we fall from heaven to hell or rise to paradise. This applies not only to the players themselves, but also hundreds of thousands or millions of fans around the world. It's just like that.

And how is it in this my beloved discipline? Judo is a sport in which the basic values should be guided by the bushido code, i.e. respect, courage, honor, compassion, integrity, honesty and sincerity, as well as duty and loyalty. How do we find ourselves in it? From the above list, let's draw for example honesty, which can have many references, but I will add it to the Olympic qualifications.

What does every judoka dream about in terms of his sports career? What is the most valuable, most desired and also the most valued success and medal in judo? It's obvious a triumph at the Olympics. It should therefore be logical that the best of the best should compete at this event.

No one is offended by the fact that three representatives of the United States or Jamaica run in the Olympic final of the sprint, and three Kenyans in the long distance. Nobody has any objection that three Australians are swimming in the Olympic pool in one series. It is the same in many other disciplines. Can't judo think about a similar solution, so as not to punish players just for the fact that they happened to live and train during the same period as another outstanding judoka from the same country?

Is the fact, that Joshiro Maruyama, a sports phenomenon and the current world champion will not be able to take part in the Olympics, consistent with the spirit of sport, competition and the principle of fair play? Is the fact, that someone who has sacrificed their health and gave a large part of their life on the way to dreams achieved the championship and does not get an equal chance to fight for dreams, is fair? And it does not matter who of them won and who lost, because hardly anyone deserves to start at the Olympics as much as these two Grand Champions, Joshiro Maruyama and Hifumi Abe.