Just a week before the opening of the Tel Aviv Grand Slam in judo, preparations are in full swing, when today (Thursday) construction began on Heichal Shlomo, with a number of tents built around it and serving as a training complex, a dining room for athletes and a VIP area.
Israel, as host, may admit up to four athletes of any weight, this time showing a record number of 45 Jews in blue and white, including the entire Olympic delegation to Tokyo, bronze medal winners in the team competition, with the exception of Uri Sasson and young athletes who will try to show their strength.
The people who are launching another campaign are also the national coaches: Oren Samadja in men and Shani Hershko in women, who know that this time the road to the next Olympics in Paris 2024 may be shorter than ever, but there is still a lot of work ahead of them.
The Israeli audience at the Grand Prix held in Tel Aviv in January 2019, Photo: Alan Shiber
"After the Tokyo Olympics we took a long period of rest," Samadja told Israel Today. "First of all let the athletes recover and rest after a five-year campaign of strenuous activity and recovery from injuries. The program this time around for the Olympic athletes is not to compete in a lot of tournaments, less the crazy running, these are more specific preparation for the goal competitions. "
What conclusions did you draw from the previous campaign?
"I'm not fighting, I'm just running ahead and using everything that was before. I think the program today is very rich and diverse so you have to know how to choose right and not fight - if you are not going to compete in Tashkent, then there is Georgia, if there is no Georgia, then there is more "Competitions. Only now are we starting to sail forward, slowly, carefully and not recklessly. When every athlete who gets on the mat knows what to expect from him."
What do we see in Tel Aviv?
"Competition in Tel Aviv requires maximum vigilance for us.
We also want to prove at home that we really have the biggest potter, of course, want to hear the anthem, but you know, we treat it like another tournament on the way, we are not at our best. "
He added: "I do not lower expectations. On the contrary, this is our situation. I just know where we are today. We are after a six-month rest without competing, but our team will be over motivated and they will want to prove. We will do everything to go all in. ".
Hershko smiles.
High expectations also from the women's team, Photo: Alan Shiber
"The Tel Aviv Grand Slam is a strong competition," Hershko said ahead of next week.
"There are no excuses, but you can not commit, it's judo. There will be interesting chaps here. In each category there are 6-7 strong athletes, with our problem being that except Amber to Nir everyone after Corona, when she practices judo with all the infected girls. "For some it affects more or less and it is difficult to know how it will affect, because some have only really happened recently. It disrupted the training a bit, for example will prevent Nelson Levy who did not train for 12 days, but there are patients in the world and it can affect, but hopefully it will end well."
What will the upcoming campaign look like?
"The goal this year is to establish as many categories as possible, it is a good starting point for the Olympic criterion. We are in a better position before Tokyo, when it is possible to come to Paris with a full cadre but it is difficult. Probably only Japan and France. "But theoretically we have a chance and if that happens, it's going to be something phenomenal."
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