Paris 2024: Ukrainian judoka Daria Bilodid aims for Olympic gold for “the youth of Ukraine”
“Somehow, we got used to war” : Ukrainian judoka Daria Bilodid, double world champion at 23, explained to Agence France-Presse that she wanted to obtain Olympic gold in Paris ” not only “ for her, but also for her ” country “ And “youth of Ukraine”.
In 2023, Daria Bilodid was unable to seek a third world title in Doha. To protest against the presence of Russian judokas, Ukraine boycotted the competition. An injustice according to the young judoka. “All these people who are going to participate in the world championships are soldiers. It does not mean anything “the athlete wrote on Instagram, believing that he was “unacceptable to authorize soldiers from a terrorist country that kills Ukrainians every day”.
Met at the Paris Dojo during an international training course bringing together hundreds of judokas this week, the bronze medalist from the Tokyo Games in 2021 today wants to “concentrate entirely on training, with my sights set on a gold medal” in six months.
This summer, only Russian athletes who did not actively support the war and are not under contract with either the army or national security agencies will be able to compete, under a neutral banner and if they are of course qualified, it has been decided the International Olympic Committee at the end of 2023. “I will accept” to fight them, if the draw decides so, she says. But “of course, it’s not the same thing” to fight Russians, “obviously I want to win against them even more” than against other nationalities. “I feel like the competition is very close, so now I’m trying to focus more on my preparation”explains Daria Bilodid, world champion in 2018 and 2019 in − 48 kg but has since moved to − 57 kg.
Very tall judoka compared to her former opponents in − 48 kg, Daria Bilodid, 1.72 meters, still makes her size an asset in her new category. But beyond that, she highlights as strong points her ” character “ and his ” spirit “ : “I think it’s my main strength, my mentality, I think I have a champion’s spirit, I want to win all the competitions, I want to be the best. »
Despite the war, Daria Bilodid continues to live in Ukraine, in kyiv, even if he “it’s not easy to train” every day. “All the people are very tired of the war”she continues. “Sometimes rockets continue to fall on kyiv. It’s difficult, but somehow we got used to war and we continue to train. Nobody knows what will happen now. »
Daria Bilodid “always loved representing Ukraine, even before the war”. “But today, I want to win more, not only for myself, but also for my country. This is very important for our people and for Ukrainian youth”she says.
After February 24, 2022, the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the young star with half a million subscribers on Instagram somewhat exchanged her glamorous publications for messages of affliction. “I will never forget the sound of the explosions, the bombings, the calls from my family saying “it has started”, the fear and the tears”she writes for example on March 24, 2022.
Almost two years later, the one who had to go to live and train in Valencia, in Spain, wants “show that we still have hope, that we are still standing”says the judoka, whose sport consists precisely in not falling.
Surrounded by her mother and coach, Svitlana Kuznetsova, also advised by her father, world medalist in 2005, Gennadiy Bilodid, the Ukrainian has a clear goal in 2024: “hearing the Ukrainian anthem in Paris would be one of the greatest emotions”.