Enrico Parlati was present in Paris with Antonio Esposito, Gennaro Pirelli and others and he is now present in Tajikistan. His perspective is important and full of reflection, “I think that when I arrived in Dushanbe I was thinking about the good moments I had here in the past. I thought about Genny Pirelli who closed his qualification here and made it on to the plane to Paris. So, I have a good feeling here."
"Thinking more about now, to be honest I thought I would find a lower level than I did, but within a few contests on day one I realised just how high the level is. So many of these guys have the potential to take medals on the World Judo Tour and there’s another group here who already have. There are senior European medallists here and that points towards excellence."
"I have Savita Russo here, senior European medallist this year in Croatia. She is just one among many who show that these days the level of seniors and juniors is almost the same. Our young judoka have the possibility to throw very fast. At -60 kg the skill level was very high and they didn’t rely too much on tactics. At the Olympics we saw many close tactical matches but here there is just the will to throw; this makes me happy. Seeing young people who want to fight and throw is exactly right and it shows we have some great potential in this cycle leading to Los Angeles."
"I think Japan came with amazing quality within their team. The Chinese athlete too at -48 kg is really one to watch for the future. Diversity is at an all-time high with many nations working extremely hard and in a good way. We see this especially with the Tajik athletes. They have the home ground advantage but their federation is also working really hard to grow the sport within this city but also across the country and their judoka delivered amazing matches. Here they don’t just love judo but they work to meet the necessary level.”
Enrico Parlati is hopeful for the future and believes in the juniors coming through now. This is why he and the other Olympic coaches are here, ensuring there is a through-line, consistency, showing value to the next generation.
