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Russian head coach Ezio
Gamba is eyeing success at the European Championships in Austria
as his team prepares at the British Judo Performance Institute
in Dartford.
Gamba has led a 16-strong
squad to Dartford for the EJU Olympic training camp which has
seen his revitalised team undertake vital preparations. His side
travel to Austria one day before the individual event starts on
Thursday 22nd April with the team event due to take place on Sunday
25th April.
As well as a full British
team the camp has also featured the Czech Republic team and their
Slovakian, Slovenian, Andorran and Bulgarian counterparts.
The Russian team is
replete with renowned fighters including Alim Gadanov (-66kg)
World ranked no.3, Kirill Denisov (-90kg) World ranked no.2 and
fourth-ranked Mansur Isaev (-73kg).
Gamba, 51, said: “There
are a good number of players here, the weather has been good and
everything has gone well. We’re now in the final part of our preparations
and in two or three day’s time we’ll start winding things down.
“We want to win European
Championship medals. We’ll go there with two teams, one for European
and one for individual.”
While Gamba is best
known for beating legendary British judoka Neil Adams to win gold
at the 1980 Olympics he has since become a decorated and much-sought
after coach.
The distinguished Italian
began working with Russia in January 2009 after the team failed
to capture a medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Their below-par
displays starkly contrasted their previous Olympic medal haul
of two silver and three bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
“We started working
together last year and now the situation is really good, I have
a big field of 50 athletes and we train 300 days a year,” said
Gamba.
“We’ve had a really
good progression from January last year to now. But our main task
is the Olympic Games in 2012 and we’re focused on continuing to
progress towards then.
“I’ve totally changed
the team, the Russian Federation didn’t agree with my decisions,
but that was my choice. I said I didn’t want to discuss my decisions
and they come to respect that which was good for me.”
The Gamba effect has
seen a change in fortunes for the revered Russian’s as they claimed
a bronze, silver and gold medal at the 2009 World Championships
in Rotterdam.
The Italian expects
a handful of countries to provide the main opposition for his
side and sees Great Britain in that group.
“I think Great Britain
at this moment have a really good spirit because they have the
dream of holding the Olympic Games. They can become dangerous.
Ukraine, Russia, Georgia and France will be very competitive.
All nations could be dangerous but I think these are the strongest.”
After gaining an insight
into training camp hosts and Championship rivals Great Britain,
Gamba believes his approach to judo reflects that of Great Britain
head coach Patrick Roux
“I don’t think there
are a lot of differences, for me the main task is to like my work,
this is first, then my dream is to work with the team and keep
them together. For me the medals will come when we find the right
balance and have a really strong bond.
“When I was 16 I was
training with Japanese coaches and it was really tough, the intensity
was very high. In 1996 I become national coach for Italy and had
a good eight years with them. I’ve developed other parts of my
coaching style which has been helped by assembling my new team
with Russia.
Gamba added: “I have
five young coaches who age from 34 to 44 and I think that’s the
right way. I have to decide what’s best for me, at the moment
I’m very lucky and fortunate that I’m very happy with the people
I have around me.“
With Russia now primed
for the European Championships Gamba is focused on maintaining
the medal-winning mentality that he has restored but also has
one eye on the Olympics.
“We have twenty-four
competitions a year, a team like Russia needs to be feature prominently
and fight for medals. We have seven teams and normally we put
fighters in for six or seven competitions a year which we think
is right for our athletes. Our results will be decided in a few
minutes at the Olympics, this is my dream and I work for that.”
EJU training session at Dartford. Russian coaches
right to left: Gamba, Ezio ITA, 1980 Olympic champion and
Makarov, Vitaly RUS 2001 World champion.
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