Taekwondo is starting to lose its balance in Paris. In London 2012, it won three medals (gold for Joel González, silver for Brigitte Yagüe and silver for Nicolás García). In Rio 2016, it was two (another for Joel González —bronze— and silver for Eva Calvo). And in Tokyo, the harvest ended with one, silver for Adriana Cerezo. Counting down, it now only depends on Cecilia Castro, in the 67-kilo category, so that in Paris it doesn’t end up with a bagel. The technical analysis of the federation placed her a few weeks ago as the participant, among the four Spanish qualifiers, with the least chance of getting on the podium, but now she is the only one left. After Cerezo’s tears on Wednesday and how far behind Adrian Vicente finished from his opponent in the fight for bronze, the one who left crying on Thursday was Javier Pérez Polo (-68). The global calculations to surpass the 22 medals have found a hole in taekwondo.
Pérez Polo arrived at the Grand Palais ranked fifth and, after a good start (he reached the semi-finals), he took on Brazilian Edival Pontes, eleventh in the world and defeated in the first fight. With three seconds left in the first round, the Madrid native dominated the fight and, suddenly, he left. An absence as brief as it was lethal.
“He hits me from above and in the third round I get two from below in a row. These mistakes leave their mark on you,” explained the 27-year-old from Madrid who, like Adriana Cerezo, was quick to shed tears of “anger and frustration.”
At 1.92m tall, the 68kgs are easily distributed. A tall, lanky guy with good technique and a lot of rhythm. “A guerrilla fighter”, the federation warned. Sometimes, at the Games, the most important thing is to fall in time. He had done that. After going to Rio as sparring partner for Jesús Tortosa, a first contact to absorb the atmosphere, he went to Tokyo as world runner-up. However, he ended up devoured by the pressure and the expectation. At the first change, weak legs and goodbye. He arrived in Paris with a mental work of becoming aware of what awaited him, but the medal eluded him again.
“In a few hours I will see him better,” he said. “Now I am sad, but I know the whole journey I have made to get here. In Tokyo I went home after the first fight and today I have lived the experience 100%. I have been very focused, I have competed well, although the medal has gone to Brazil,” he said before breaking down in tears when he was told how his father got him into taekwondo.
His father pushed him to the gym to overcome his shyness. He combined it for a while with swimming, which was his mother’s favourite, until he took up taekwondo. However, he did not like competition. “A coward”, he once said of himself. He did not want to be beaten in front of his parents, so he never signed up for a tournament. His father found out and then he had no choice. And he did not do badly. He was soon champion of Spain and of Europe under-21. In Paris, his mistakes in the final fight left him without a medal. His partner, Cecilia Castro, is Spain’s last bullet.
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