Africa-Press – Angola. The judoka of the National Team, Edmilson Pedro, in the -66 kg category, is qualified for the Summer Olympic Games, Paris’2024, in light of the universality of games, after the end of the qualifying phase. The young Angolan led the national ranking of the International Judo Federation in 58th place with 991 points.
The 26-year-old Interclube athlete will make his debut at the Summer Olympic Games, after accumulating several participations in African championships, in which he always performed well competitively. In the last continental race, held in Egypt, the Angolan stood on the podium to receive the bronze medal. Earlier, he had won several gold medals in different qualifying tournaments.
Bicho Papão, as he is also known in sports, said he was aware of the responsibility of carrying Angola’s name in the biggest sporting competition in the world.
“I’m going to make my biggest dream come true and I’m aware that all eyes will be on me. I’m working in the best possible way to achieve the best participation. I gained a lot of experience during the internship in Brazil and I perfected my performance at the African Championship disputed in Egypt”, he said.
To reach the brightest lands in Europe, Edmilson Pedro highlighted the hard work and authenticity in the national tests that gave access to the call-ups for the National Team.
“It wasn’t easy to get here. I remember that I had to work hard to get good results in national and provincial competitions. My performance quickly sent me to the national team”, he says. The judoka reveals that he works seriously to mature his passion conceived since childhood and grow up in this modality.
“I started practicing judo since I was born. It was a sport encouraged by my older brothers and with them I gained a passion for this art. Making a career in judo is complicated, but when we have a goal, we focus well and that’s it. work,” he said.
In addition to judo, Angola is working to be present with at least 12 disciplines at the Paris event. At the moment, handball, basketball, rowing, sailing, canoeing, athletics, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and wrestling have already been selected.
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