Olympic bronze medalist in judo Natalia Kouzyutina told that six months before the Tokyo Games she injured her shoulder and a month before the tournament she broke her finger.
Kuzyutina won bronze at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. In 2021, Natalya competed in the Tokyo Olympics, losing in the second meeting.
— How did you prepare for the 2020 Olympic Games?
— The Tokyo Olympics were difficult for me. In January 2021, I injured my shoulder during training. I went to the doctor and took a photo. It turned out that my labrum had separated and my biceps were torn. I was told that there were two options: either prepare for the Olympic Games in this form, but the shoulder will hurt, fly out of the joint and the risks are high, or have surgery, but recovery will take a year.
I realized that the operation was not suitable for me because I wanted to participate in the Olympics. But during training, my shoulder didn’t allow me to give my best. Ezio Gamba showed a photo of his shoulder to an Italian doctor, with whom many Russian athletes underwent rehabilitation. And one day at training camp I was told I had to have surgery with this doctor, he gave me five months of rehab. I didn’t even believe it. It was a difficult moment for me, a turning point. I sat at home and cried, because I understood that with such a shoulder I would not be in shape for the Olympics, and if I decided to have surgery, I would have no chance to adequately prepare for the tournament.
– But you had surgery?
– Yes, I believed Ezio Gamba and I decided to fly to Italy for the operation. In the end, everything went well. I started preparing for the Games, but my arm was not yet fully recovered. During training camp at the end of June, I broke my index finger. A month before the Olympics, I was told I wouldn’t be able to train. But this motivated me even more and I started preparing harder. I started training fully a month before the Games,” Kuzyutina told .
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
