Local judokas can medal at African Cup
Several local judokas will be in action at the African Cup judo tournament in Cameroon this weekend.
Local judokas are in with a real chance to medal at the African Cup Tournament in Cameroon over the weekend.
Nikola Filipov, head coach at TuksJudo, has no hesitation in saying that Michaela Whitebooi is from a technical perspective one of the best.
“If I can just get her to believe in her abilities as I do as her coach, then there will be no reason why she should not win a medal at the World Championships or Olympic Games in the foreseeable future. It is a good thing that Michaela has been working with the HPC sports psychologist, Monja Human,” said Filipov before the team’s departure.
DJ le Grange has been training and competing in the USA and Canada during the last few weeks where he has got some decent results.
Filipov is on record that Le Grange is one of two South African judokas who currently have a realistic chance to represent South Africa at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo the other being Whitebooi. He describes Le Grange as a fighter at heart which is what you need to succeed in judo.
Le Grange fully realises that to become the best means he should be on a constant quest to become even fitter and stronger.
“It is a case of having to keep on pushing the boundaries all the time. There is never any relenting if you want to succeed,” he said.
This hunger is what Filipov expects from all the judokas he trains. For him, it will always be about total dedication. Needless to say that the judokas being coached by him have been dominating during all the major local tournaments raking in the medals over the last few years.
Filipov has a definite opinion as to what it takes to succeed in judo.
“It is all about having a true fighting spirit. It will never be in judo just about how perfect you are able to execute a technique, or how strong and fit you are. Everybody is strong and fit. To become a champion you have to be able to push yourself to edge of your limits day in and day out,” the famous coach concluded.
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