SAN LUIS POTOSÍ, Mexico.- At 33 years old, the Cuban judoka naturalized in the United States, Maria Celia Labordehad to say goodbye to the Paris Olympic Games, after falling this Saturday, July 27, in the 48 kg division.
At the Champs-Der-Mars Arena, the Guantanamera had as her first rival the Chinese Guo Zongying, to whom she imposed a pair of waza-aris that gave her the victory at three minutes and 11 seconds, reported Full Swing.
However, against her second opponent, the Italian Assunta Scutto, the 22-year-old judoka, with two bronze medals at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships, beat the Cuban.
In three minutes and 23 seconds, the Italian won by ippon, after applying a lateral immobilization technique known as Kuzure-kesa-gatame.
Laborde had won team bronze at the 2013 Senior World Championships representing Cuba and won an individual bronze medal the following year.
After settling in the United States, Laborde received his citizenship American in 2021 and began competing for Team USA in March of the following year. In 2023, she made history by becoming the first American athlete to medal at the Worlds Judo Masters since 2016, taking home the silver medal.
“I hope to win a medal, get on the podium and put in a good performance. I feel good, we have had a super intense preparation. We spent two weeks in Japan training and then we spent another two weeks in Spain, in the Benidorm camp and in Valencia. Now we are here in Florida training for the rest of the competition and on Monday we will leave for Paris,” he said before the Olympic Games.
The American judo team, made up of four representatives, had a diverse but equally rigorous preparation. “The other girl (Angélica Delgado) was, like me, training in Japan and Spain; while the two boys (Jack Yonezuka and John Jayne), in addition to Spain, prepared in Canada. We all have good chances and we are ready to do well,” said Laborde.
The athlete said the road to Olympic qualification was “very long, tedious and difficult” as it involved four years of constant competition.
However, her performance at the World Masters Championship, where she won a silver medal in 2023, was key to her qualification.
Goodbye to table tennis
On the other hand, the tCuban enimesistas Daniela Fonseca and Jorge Moisés Campos They fell today 1-4 sets in the mixed doubles modality and could not advance to the quarterfinals.
At the Paris South Arena, the duo lost 11-6, 10-12, 9-11, 7-11 and 9-11 to the Swedes Kristian Karlsoon and Cristina Kallberg, at table three.
They won the first set but were unable to beat the pair ranked ninth in the world in this discipline, thus ending their presence in the Olympic competition.
The Cuban left-hander and right-hander had participated in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where they did not make it past the round of 32.
In the men’s singles category, Andy Pereira will face Brazilian Hugo Canterano in the first round, seeking to advance in the tournament.
Follow our channel WhatsApp. Receive the information from CubaNet on your cell phone through Telegram.
