New champions are born in Banska Bystrica

In 2001 Ilias Iliadis became the winner of the European Youth Olympic Festival in the category U73kg. On Wednesday Joshua de Lange will have the same dreams about his career, knowing that a greatness like Iliadis gave him the example of what dreams can look like. Three years later Iliadis did the impossible and became Olympic Champion. Although that’s a bit ambitious, qualifying for the Olympic Games in 2028 is definitely among the possibilities and making future medals are good stepping stones to the goals set in the future. For now the title at the EYOF in 2022 in Banska Bystrica are just moments to enjoy.

The Dutchman enjoyed the moments on the mat this time after the European Cadet Championships became a deception for him with a moment that the referee may not have had his best moment but De Lange may not have expressed enough his desire to win that match, at any cost. In Slovakia it was different, even more mature, kept his head cool despite the pressure of himself and maybe the expectations of the team. The team spirit is great as the Dutch started with two gold medal at the first day and have yet set an old time best at EYOF within two days of fighting. Never the Dutch were in four finals in the first two days, even resulting in three gold medals and another silver on Wednesday for another talent Julie Beurskens.

Driven by the team spirit, talent and dedication and the support of parents and many friends and fans on the stands, De Lange had the vibe today that we expected, but the pressure for these kind of young people is immense. This is why it’s called a festival, to enjoy the multi sports event that feels like a mini Olympic Games, where pin trading, watching team mates in various sports in the colours of your country make it extra special. In that setting it must be a pleasure to participate, but winning is the ultimate reward of lots of hours of hard training and suffering, dealing with pressure while not even being a mature athlete, but someone who has to deal with losses, learn from the mistake and show relentless and gutsy judo. The truth is that it’s becoming awfully close to top judo. The level is close, but some athletes already stand out. Joshua is one of those. He is the one who can still express his gratitude for such a medal, for the support given by his parents, his sponsors and showing the loyalty that belongs to the back side of the medal, but hand in hand with the shiny front of the medal.

People look up to De Lange while he just turned 17 this month. Still there are people hope he will lose his  next match, or want to be like him. He may got it now, but may lose it tomorrow. It all belongs to the journey of young athletes on the road of success, or the road to the shadow. We mostly remembers the ones who picked the road to success like Iliadis, Zantaraia, Giuffrida, Nikiforov, Gviniashvili, Igolnikov who all took big prizes and walked the walk of fame, but know the pain of the losses they suffered. They all began with a Youth Olympic gold medal when they thought the ruled Europe, but now they know it was just the beginning. This is why he likes to adore those super champions, like in his weight category U73kg Shohei Ono. He loves to study the techniques of the Japanese and was able to enjoy the Kodokan and also to see Shohei Ono a few years ago in Düsseldorf with his parents and even had a meet and greet with the current double Olympic Champion. Although De Lange is likely not an athlete for U73kg for the future, he might be able to study him for a few years more, how to stay ice cold and rely on the technique and momentum to be created in each contest. Patience is perhaps the best lesson for young athletes. Watching Ono is picking up lessons fast, a good idol to learn from, for Joshua, his best example and motivator.

New champions stand up and can only work for such career, hope for some luck to stay healthy and get the support that they need in the next years. For sure they have the talent, hopefully it’s kept inside so we can enjoy them all and see some new idols. They are born at these kind of places. Banska Bystrica writes new history each day like Baku did, Gyor, Tbilisi, Utrecht and Tampere proving us with the champions of the future. Keep watching the EYOF and look up those stars from the past that became today’s international judo stars.