Peter Palchik's post-Olympic year passed with quite a few ups and downs.
On the one hand, he failed to get on the podium in the major individual competitions in the World and European Championships, and on the other hand, he continued to get medals in the world tour, which kept him in the distinguished list of the top of the ranking in weight up to 100 kg.
He started the year with the silver medal at the Paris Grand Slam, was ranked third at the Tel Aviv Grand Slam and also finished the Mongolia Grand Slam last June with the silver medal, and to this must be added the historic team bronze medal at the World Championships.
Palchik.
Hungry to succeed, photo: Oren Aharoni
The 30-year-old Palachik, ranked sixth, will want to end the year in the sweetest way possible in front of the home crowd, and signal to everyone about his intentions for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, when he steps on the mat tomorrow at the Masters competition in Jerusalem, in the third most important event in the industry, which brought here the 36 The best in the world at any weight.
"There is always excitement," Palachik told Israel Hayom about his feelings on the eve of the competition.
"If I wasn't excited, I wouldn't be here now. You can leave the tournaments, sometimes I even get excited in training, if I get some cool drop that I've been working on for a long time, or new things that I'm trying to upgrade and put in my arsenal. There are many things that make me To enjoy the road, surely an event of this magnitude here in Israel."
Palchik.
Excited for the event, photo: Liron Moldovan
You probably don't just want to be excited, but also to be emotional. What can we expect from you?
"I'm coming with a lot of fun, trying to learn a lot from the World Championship. I can honestly share that this competition is like all competitions, the competitors are the same competitors. This time you can see that since it's a Masters, there are many good athletes that we fight with in the round, among them the Olympic champion Aaron Wolf The Japanese are coming. There are going to be good match-ups with quality fights."
And what is it like to compete again in front of the Israeli crowd?
"I love the atmosphere in Israel. I always feel like a gladiator with the home crowd that comes to cheer. There are no easy draws at the Masters, this is perhaps the toughest competition on the world tour. It will be a world war. It's exciting that it's in Jerusalem, it's very special. From the moment I chose to go on to Paris 2024 - I'm an athlete in the making. I always want the gold medal and I have the hunger for it."
Palchik.
Feeling good in front of the Israeli audience, photo: Oren Aharoni
"My liveliness is back"
Still, you had a year with many ups and downs.
"There is something about the level of alertness before the Olympics that cannot be explained in words. I'm not there and I don't want to be there now, but to be there before Paris. This is the planning with the team, but I feel in the best shape since I was at the Olympics. We had a one-month training camp in Japan that brought back me to the sources, which gave me back my animality, and the team also sees it in training. This is the X factor I will bring to the competition."
What do you say about the women's team having a better year?
"We are very focused on ourselves, and God forbid there is no bad blood with them, we are the most supportive and happy and I am sure that they are also supportive of us. There were years when we won the most medals, there were years when they won the most, and things balance out. In the coming year we want to overtake them, achieve the results we were Sometimes you achieve and improve the balance. A lot of people started talking about the team competition, which combines men and women, which is a very strong pan and card. It's great fun."
In order to succeed in getting a medal, Palachik will open the day of competition tomorrow in the first round against the 22-year-old Kazakh Shirkan Nurlikhan, bronze medalist from the Asian Championships, ranked 26th in the world.
If he beats him, he is expected to meet a much more difficult obstacle - the tenth-ranked Serbian Aleksandar Kokol, the vice-champion of the world from last year.
Palachik and Raz Hershko.
Cheering for women, photo: Ami Shoman
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