My interviewees rarely surprise me; Even those whose professions are not sports are such familiar people to me that their answers do not usually put me “out at home.”
However, with judoka Danieska Carrión, youth world titleholder and two-time world medalist among adults, I recognize that some of her answers have not allowed me to get “safe” at first.
What will I tell you! First, it's a pleasure talking to you; I know you like millions know you and you make me proud by interviewing me.
Tiny, with dark skin, the lively eyes of this Santiago native dim when she remembers her time on the national judo team.
All that glitters is not gold; I have had to learn to live leaving behind a disgraceful and miserable past, a true ordeal that constituted my path to the national team.
You amaze me. It is the first time that I have talked with a high-performance judoka who takes me down that path.
Well, it must be that I didn't like him, because otherwise... I'm going to start by telling you that in my continuous personal development I learned a term widely used to call subjects who impacted our lives negatively and in some way, forgive them: "master executioners", those who come to teach us, in the most cruel way, something in our existence. That was those characters at that moment! (I am referring to my coaches Ronaldo Veitía and Javier Rodríguez)
That whole ordeal is coupled with your body weight. Anyone who knows a little about sports knows how difficult it is to stabilize a weight as the years go by, especially in lower categories. I know you went through hell to stay at 48 kilos, why didn't they gain weight as was natural?
In fact, making 48 kilograms was extremely difficult, devastating I would say, to the point of losing health and life. In my last two School Games at the age of 15 and 16 respectively, I competed in that category.
When I arrived at the big team I spent part of the year at 52 kilos but I was forced to go down to 48 to attend the World Youth Championship in Cali, Colombia in 1998. I hoped that after that event I would be able to go up but they forced me to stay; Therefore I had to learn to live without eating and drinking water because when I did, I couldn't make the weight and therefore, I was expelled from the national team.
I met many athletes from various specialties who lived similar experiences but not to this degree of physical and psychological abuse.
What do you know Julita!
On several occasions you have referred to the fact that they threw you out of Cerro Pelado without further ado. Actually what happened?
I can't give you a convincing answer because I don't even know. I didn't have much luck; Sometimes I questioned whether I was liked… yes, because you had to be liked too!
And there's that thing about them not having room for me at 52 kilograms. Imagine there was Legna Verdecia, a great judoka, not by chance she is the Sydney Olympic champion but what weighed most was that her husband at that time was the coach Javier Rodríguez and I, younger and enthusiastic, was a shadow in the division.
Thus, in April 1999, the person who was present and signed my withdrawal was Javier himself, since the first figures were on tour in Europe with Veitia.
To make it better understood: it is not at all counterproductive to stay in a division if your body weight is within or not far from your ideal weight, but in my case, 48 kilograms was extremely far away.
On top of that, the trainers implemented a system that requires you to stay in a range they created. To give an example and use my case, my IBW (ideal weight) is a minimum of 51 kg and a maximum of 62 kg. This system demanded something totally abusive of me due to my body constitution: being below 51.
Two months after winning the 1998 World Junior Championships, I was banned for three months because I couldn't make weight. When I returned from this sanction I was only able to stay for a little more than two months and there I was officially discharged for the same reason.
can't go against nature It is unusual that they did not let you advance in the category.
I can assure you that there was no other reason. I didn't fit into that system created by them and look, nevertheless, it worked. There are the medals but in my personal opinion and experience it is counterproductive for health. And I tell you more. In my case they had no compassion.
They were able to get me to understand the reason why 48, make me understand that it was important for the team, but... in the way they did it like despots and aggressors! NO. That's how they were destroyers. Until my health is affected. Physical and mental abuse, projections from colleagues who were forced to do it over and over again, anyway!
And I won't tell you what they did to all of us with our luggage on the plane. They deceived us with the allowed pounds and they came loaded.
You were always a determined woman and you managed to return to the team but again at the beginning of 1999 Javier dropped you again and now you leave completely exhausted from not eating to make the weight. How then do you manage to return to the national team and do it in a convincing way because you Did you place on the world podiums in Munich 2001 and Osaka 2003 in addition to winning the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic?
Indeed. His career as a high-performance athlete had forced pauses. In 1996 I began my career in the national team, in November 1998 I was sanctioned for three months, in April 1999 I was officially discharged as I previously mentioned, in November of that same year I entered again, this time as a guest but my kidneys couldn't take it anymore. Furthermore, I got sick and as the late Ronaldo would say: “if what I love you for is of no use to me… why do I love you?”
So it was that I had to leave again, but I never gave up: being a judoka and shining on the international scene was everything I dreamed of, it was what I had fought for.
Then again in November 2000, after my father spoke with Veitia at the National Championship that was held in Santiago, I returned to the Cerro Pelado tatami. At that time I had just had surgery that almost cost me my life but nothing could stop me. I made the weight they demanded of me, 48 kilos.
This is how you attended the World Cup in Munich in 2001.
I started by beating the Romanian Dumitru, who in Beijing defeated Yanet Bermoy in the final, but in the quarterfinals I collided with that impenetrable wall that is the Japanese Ryoko Tamura, who surpassed me. To win the bronze I had to win three more fights after that setback.
What do you think of the best judoka in the world, the historic Tamura?
Facing her was sublime, it is an invaluable opportunity. She is an icon of judo, an admirable woman.
2003 marks your last year in the national judo team, you won the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, you won bronze in the World Cup in Osaka and you made the decision to change the course of your life.
The mark that year left on me is indelible. Imagine that in that same 2003 I again had problems with my weight, they sanctioned me again and Carrión returned to Santiago for three months.
Girl, if it's not a record, yours is a magnificent average, and how could you go to the World Cup?
They deprived me of the tour of the Old Continent, which you know, showed you all the rivals you were going to have in the World Cup; They took away the possibility of such important international preparation from me. So, the one that was 48 stayed; That is, they had no one. So I arrived in Osaka and 2 days before the competition I weighed 49.2 and since Veitia was so obsessive about weight, he got very upset and retaliated: instead of supporting me in the corner, during the fights he was against me all the time. ... Anyway, rest in peace; I already forgave him.
What happened in your first fight against the Frenchwoman Frédérique Jossinet?
I had the main referee against me, not to mention my coach who shouted atrocities at me and the opponent was not easy; I could barely concentrate. Veitía was upset about my weight, anyway! I only lost by one shido but can I tell you something?... Everyone that day saw me win!
But I don't want to remember that; What I will always have in my heart was the support of my teammate Regla Leyén Zulueta, who made me regain my desire to win and overcome myself when I was practically destroyed, when not even my coach wanted me.
Thus I managed to regain my concentration and the gala, who discussed the final with the Japanese Ryoko Tamura, dragged me up the organization chart and thus I celebrated five fights that I won.
In the Pan American Games, another level of course, I beat the Canadian Carolyne Lapage in the final. I remember I was in osae-komi, my head was tight and my coach was overwhelming me. Finally, time passed and I achieved victory. I never did anything for him; yes for my country, my parents, my brother and for me.
Is it true that in a tournament in South Korea you competed in 48 and 52 and then, for going a few grams in another competition in Japan, you were severely sanctioned?
That was the final story as a judoka for the Cuba team. In December 2003, a tournament was held in Korea and Japan. The coaches were Javier and Veitía. Unfortunately we were in Mexico for 4 days and the weight was not working properly. In South Korea I exceeded six ounces.
The punishment was to go without food for a week; I was even forbidden to go down to the dining room. They both threatened me using words like “I am going to destroy you”, I remember that they were with me inside an elevator and they threatened me… my unforgettable “master executioners”!
We went to Japan for the next tournament, I made weight but I barely saw the opponents. I won bronze because I decided again not to give up. Then I competed in 52 kilograms as a team and we won gold.
When do you decide to leave the team?
On that last trip I took in 2003, when the coaches' behavior became more aggressive and hostile. When they threatened me that upon arriving in Cuba they were going to destroy me, I had no other alternative. Eight months before my big dream: competing in the Olympic Games.
First steps in judo for Danieska Carrión?
I started judo motivated by my brother who already practiced it. At the age of 7, my mother took us to the special area of the primary school where I was in second grade to do gymnastics. It really all started there.
Coaches that you have fond memories of?
Eulises Legonier Benencio, Manolo Lescay, Ernesto Magallanes and Francisco Mediaceja, trainers of the special area and the EIDE who made me love this ancient martial art. In high performance my emblematic figure is Antonio Bekali.
How do you get to Cerro Pelado?
After I toured the base, as well as the National ESPA, I arrived at Cerro Pelado in October 1996.
What do you think about the changes in judo? Two of your favorite techniques, morote-gari and kata guruma, are currently not allowed.
Before these changes I liked judo better because there was a lot of risk. These changes benefit the Japanese, due to their body morphology. The gruma kata is still performed with a more sophisticated version and the morote-gari, which gave me my medal from the last World Cup, did disappear. It was the grabbing of both legs of the opponent with the arms and bringing the back to the floor.
What did you prefer ground or stop?
In both I developed very well; However, standing (Tachi waza) she was sharper than on the ground (Ne waza).
I know that you have lived in Puerto Rico, in Hawaii and that you now live in the United States and that after graduating in Psychology you have dedicated yourself to teaching.
Yes, I lived in those places and now I am in the United States. The first six years of living outside Cuba I received support from many people and institutions. Ricardo Tuero, coach in Florida, was one of the first to extend his hand to me. I have moved a lot.
From Florida I went to Ohio with wonderful people that I left there. Then I was with the double Olympic bronze medalist, Israel Hernández, in Texas, where I began a more solid path in judo in the United States, being part of one of the training centers in the country. I competed at the United States level at 57kg. There I began a relationship and moved to Colorado Spring and was part of a coaching team as an assistant alongside coach and Olympic medalist Eddie Liddie. After the 2008 Beijing Olympics I moved to Hawaii.
In 2010 I moved to Puerto Rico, I went to university where I completed a bachelor's degree in Psychological Sciences as well as two master's degrees, one in psychological counseling and another in Physical Education with a specialty in sports training. I worked as a sports coach there with the help of wrestling teacher Pedro Rojas.
In 2020 I came to the United States. I have taken a break from sports and the activities that I did professionally. I'm ready to work after three years. I still do not do it.
You are very familiar, what does your family mean to you?
The family is a sacred institution. It was very painful when I decided not to return. I didn't see them for more than nine years, it's something very cruel. The suffering of my parents was hard, as was my brother, they were heartbroken. This wound is irreversible, it is like having a guillotine with you, it is a pressure. I stand in solidarity with everyone who has had to go through this as a Cuban.
Situation of judo, sport in general and Cuba currently?
Sports in Cuba unfortunately lost the solid foundation that kept it for years at the highest levels of world sports. There is no doubt that our country is blessed with talented people, but it needs more than that.
There are several factors but an important one is lack of motivation. The essence by which the Cuban went out to seek a result for his country was lost, perhaps because he realized that it was not worth feeding someone else's ego and continuing to serve as a guinea pig.
It's good that you represent your country, but specifically, what do you gain from that? We no longer compete for the love of art. I don't follow Cuban sports closely. The last thing I saw was the Tokyo Olympics and I didn't like the dynamics.
If you were young now what would you do?
Following my same example, if I am reborn under the circumstances that I had to play sports... I won't do it!: emotional blackmail, psychological and physical abuse, destruction, identity theft, indoctrination, etc, etc, etc. In this time, where the truth is for everyone who wants to see it, I don't think there is a need to put up with these atrocities even a little bit.
Little Danieska Carrión in her short and very unstable career (not through her fault, of course) is one of the Cuban judokas with the best percentage of effectiveness in fights won and lost with a very high 84 percent. He only fell eight times in official combats. Bright future for this Cuban who deserves the best because she has known how to direct her life and be completely happy.
What do you think?
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