Achievements like this can change the world. This is not a glib throwaway line or a dramatic exaggeration; it is happening already. Diyora and coach Marko Spittka have much to say about this medal, the process behind it and how it can impact the future for women in Uzbekistan.
Marko: “The process started when I came to Uzbekistan. Normally, in the beginning, I was not there to work directly with the athletes. My role as the Sport Director meant I had responsibility for all the coaches, to teach them and bring structure and planning to their operations I also had the task of developing judo in the regions. This should include the building of analysis mechanisms and general working systems. It became clear that it was also necessary to improve technical and tactical understanding."
"Diyora was working with Nellie, her personal coach and it was Nellie who suggested I go with Diyora to test how our athlete-coach relationship might work. It was in Antalya in 2022 and she won silver there. It was a really strong tournament, a good second grand slam medal for her."
"In the technical training, I started to help and Nellie suggested I continue to work with her. It’s not my way to take an athlete and force myself inside the long-standing situation and so we all chose, as a team. Now it’s the three of us working closely together and there is an auxiliary team for support.
Later, through a long process, 4 months before Olympic Games it was decided by the federation not to have the women’s national coach anymore and so I was given the task to create a stronger system for the women’s team. It wasn’t possible for me to do everything for everyone though. My policy is to be able to give 100% to what I do so I had to reduce my work in the regions and with the younger athletes. We went step by step, one medal at a time. From there Diyora won a silver at the worlds, her second one."
"We did a lot of performance analysis of the opponents and worked on specific points in training. We learned how it’s possible to win against everybody. We managed to do very few randori practises with Abe when training in Japan, in the lead up to this Games; we wanted more but it was enough to take the information we needed. Once at the Games, the first two minutes were for Abe but we worked on that final technique for more than 6 months and Diyora found that solution on the left side."
"Ballhaus (GER) was a difficult fight too, maybe more difficult than others might think. Again we found solutions. During competition, women’s and men’s application of power can often be different and not many women have the power to be able to repeat a technique at full strength as Diyora does, several times in a contest, but she was able to score after many attempts.
I knew after Doha that this was possible and from that moment we aimed not for a medal but for Olympic gold. There have been many ups and downs, some really bad days in training, but we don’t stress about those days, we just continue. She now has experience, heart, character and technique, it’s perfect. We spent a lot of time in Japan, it’s so different from Europe. It’s not cheap but it was a good investment."
"Now we have new generations of women coming through who see that marriage is not the only option. Women are beginning to get jobs and have their own money and especially in the countryside, it’s not easy to get to that point.”
Diyora: “This was not a dream, it was a goal. I always believed it was possible but I just work and move forward step by step. My fight is always what is in front of me, one at a time, not just thinking about the medal."
"Men still come to ask me why I’m in judo. They say we can’t do anything in sport and that I should cook and have a family. But this always gives me motivation. If we open the doors, we can show it’s possible for women to do everything. I am married and normally in Uzbekistan a married woman is only at home, no more sport, but my husband supports me one hundred percent and the country supports him in his support for me. In fact, opinions are changing so much and so fast that now we often hear ‘he is the best man in the world to support her and help this journey.’ Having this support from him for me is important.”
Marko: “The men in the team see how hard Diyora and the women’s team work. They’re not playing and the men in the team respect it and accept it. Now they have good results too. The sports leaders of the country now accept that medals are medals regardless of gender or age and so investment has become more equal. It takes time to change culture but it can be much shorter to change behaviour, which helps longer term.”
Diyora: “I have to take a rest now. I had no real rest for two years and it’s time to refresh. Every development, every step feels big. To be Olympic champion is a big step but now I know that I did the right work and the best job. My title shows me that. This is a special kind of confidence.”