Cuban judoka Amarilis Savon steps out Tamura’s shadow

Athletes train long and hard to be the best they can and to achieve their goals, but sometimes there is something they cannot legislate for. Sometimes an athlete simply has the misfortune to be born at the same time and be a part of the same generation as someone truly great. Try as they might they can never reach the very pinnacle of their sport.

That was the way it seemed for Cuba’s Amarilis Savon for many years as she won silver and bronze medals at the World Championships and Olympic Games, consistently in the shadow of Japan’s Ryoko Tamura. But a stroke of fate, and a baby, changed all that.

Savon missed the World Championships two years ago in Munich because she had a baby. Danieska Carrion filled the void in impressive style by winning bronze and when Savon returned to competition, she found she was heavier and could no longer fight at under 48kg. But as fate would have it, Legna Verdecia, the Olympic Champion, retired and a void opened up at under 52kg. Savon made the switch in impressive fashion and finally after more than 10 years of hard graft she gained the ultimate reward – she became world champion.

“I am very happy because I have wanted to win this for a long time but it was not possible,” she said. “Now in a different category I have achieved the result I wanted and won the gold medal at the World Championships.” Having tasted the glory of the world title, Savon is now hungry for more, but she admits that she did have her doubts. She said: “When I came here I decided I would only continue to the Olympic Games if I got a good result, otherwise I would retire. But now I hope to continue training hard and looking forward to Athens next year.”

Savon is clear in her mind about what has inspired her to come back even stronger, fitter and better than before. She added: “When I saw the Cuban flag and heard the national anthem, I thought about my daughter. She is my inspiration.” The birth of her daughter and the pregnancy has made a big impression on her life and her career, but not as anyone might imagine. “I did not have very good preparation for the Olympics in Sydney because I was pregnant. After I had my daughter there was not enough time to train for the World Championships in Munich. But after I had my baby I thought I was very fat and I had to get back into training to regain my shape! But also, I don’t have a gold medal in the Olympic Games, I have two bronze medals. I wanted to come back to win the Olympics.” Despite this ferocious will to win, Savon has always been a model of sportsmanship on the tatami. A jubilant winner but also a gracious and generous loser, she makes no excuses for her lack of a major gold medal until now. She even joked about her great rivalry with Tamura. “She is like a stone in the street – I always tripped over her,” she quipped. Savon’s attitude has won her many friends all over the world – even the patriotic Parisian crowd. At the Tournoi de Paris in 2000 she received a standing ovation despite having just thrown the French fighter Sarah Nichillo-Rosso for ippon in just five seconds to win the bronze medal.

And she displayed her generous spirit again after her victory in the final in Osaka against another French woman, Annabelle Euranie. She hugged and kissed her young adversary after a thrilling final in which Euranie came close to an ippon with uchi-mata before Savon pinned in ne-waza to win the title. “The relationship between fighters is better after the fight,” she explained. “We have many friends all over the world. We all want to win and fight with determination but once the fight is finished we are friends. Today is judo but tomorrow judo is finished but friendship remains.”