Following the Olympics she needed elbow surgery and during a long recovery time she was overtaken by two other athletes at home, leaving her as the number 3 behind Kowalczyk and Borowska. “I qualified for Rio and at that time I was happy. I was doing so many competitions. It was a busy time but a good time leading up to the Games. After Rio I had an operation on my elbow. When I came back my two teammates were higher in the ranking and so they could choose their competitions. My options were reduced and so that was the hardest time for me.”
From then until now, Arleta has had a few good results, grand prix medals and placings but the grand slam podium has remained elusive until Tashkent, again, now a grand slam rather than a grand prix. A decade after her first medal and a victory over one Olympic champion, she repeated the medal and part of its story, throwing Olympic champion Rafaela Silva on the way. This Tashkent medal, though, is her first at a grand slam, taking this step at 30 years old and in a good moment ahead of possible qualification for the Paris Games.
“Since I stepped off the podium yesterday, I don’t know how many times I heard about how many years it’s been but I’m here because I have fun in judo. We have a very young Polish national team and they joke about me like I am old but actually a lot of athletes now spend a long time at a high level. The Brazilian team, for example, have many athletes over thirty, Quadros and Rafael Silva to name just two.
I stayed in this sport just for myself, not specifically for medals. I enjoy training. In the Tokyo cycle I was enjoying judo still but I was not so focused as I had been before. I was a bit sad to have fewer competitions. Now in this cycle it’s back to being me and Julia Kowalczyk as the top two and we both had a lot of events.
From here in Tashkent I will go to Japan for a randori block and then I will go to Antalya to compete again and I’m looking forward to both. I have to work hard to continue.
I hope this grand slam medal will open my mind. I had many different focus’ in my life leading into this event and in some ways it made me more relaxed about my judo and about the tournament. I hope now I proved to myself that I can take a medal at this level and so perhaps I can continue to work this way.
Looking back at the bronze medal contest, I wasn’t totally sure if I got the score. It was a big movement and I knew it could score. Actually, each time I threw during the day I wasn’t sure if I scored or not. Winning the bronze was a great moment though.
Yesterday felt like an easy day, chilled, relaxed and my timing was good. I’m sure the draw didn’t look easy but it all came together. In other times you can have an easier draw but it doesn’t come together. I always want to have a good feeling like yesterday and it has been a long time since I felt it. I’m glad to have this feeling back.”
