Hope for a medal vanished: Yuri Alvear out of the Tokyo Olympics

Brazil Rio de Janeiro. August 10, 2016. The Women’s Judo competition in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games advances. In the photo: Colombian Yuri Alvear who won the Silver medal.

Jamundeña judoka Yuri Alvear, bronze in London 2012 and silver in Rio 2016, will not be present at the Tokyo 2021 jousts due to a muscular incident that will take her away from sports practice for longer than expected.

Operated last Monday of an injury to the menisci and anterior cruciate ligament in your right knee, the doctors ruled that by 2021 the high-performance athlete will not be able to participate in any fair related to her discipline.

Alvear, 34, felt discomfort in the last competition in which you participated, in Qatar, where the results were not as she expected. Upon her return from Japan, she informed her medical team and was immediately referred for observation.

The operation confirmed Alvear’s incapacity, who hoped to maintain the category and retain the silver of the previous fair, in Rio 2016.

The judoka went to her Instagram account to notify followers and the general public of her health condition. Despite the optimism of your message, He did not want to give clues about the seriousness of his current condition.

The judoka, world champion for three consecutive times, wrote: “My sports career has been long and productive; but sometimes it generates consequences !!! Next Time recovery”.

With the retirement of Alvear the expectations of medals for the country are reduced at the Tokyo Olympics, to be held from July 23, 2021.

Archive: Alvear winning his last match and his first medal, bronze in London 2012 EFE 163

Alvear, temper and attitude on the tatami

The double Olympic medalist returned to competition last January after a year out of the circuit, due to the circumstances imposed by the covid-19.

Yuri Alvear, recognized for her direct style and forcefulness on the Judo mat, started the season at the Doha Masters in Qatar, but did not obtain good results when she was eliminated by the English Gemma Howell.

The Masters is a stop within the circuit that gives points for the qualifiers to the Olympic jousts. However, Alvear was optimistic about his future performance, as he transmitted it to the sports journalist Jairo Chávez of El País, from Cali: “After a year without competing, I can say that most of the sensations are good.. One of the most worrying issues is physical ability. I competed with a very strong rival, we have already faced each other on other occasions ”, declared the athlete.

So aware was he of his physical moment that he made an acute analysis of why he lost his first event of 2021: “In combat I was dominating, then we went to the golden point, there I attacked and they counterattacked me, they scored the point and I lost.This is the golden rule. There I lost in the first round and was eliminated from the competition ”, Alvear declared.

The judoka prepared for the second season of qualifiers in Japan, despite notifications of cancellations due to covid-19. But he was optimistic about what the following encounters held: “I am going to be in Japan and wait, because we have already received news that several places have been closed. For now I can only say that I am happy and grateful to God for returning to the mat”.

Yuri Alvear wanted to participate for the fourth time in the Olympics, but his motivation was to maintain the position achieved as a medalist both in London 2012 (bronze) and Rio 2016 (silver); it was located in a world ranking position that gave Tokyo a place, but it had to sustain it by appearing for the qualifiers.