Yvonne bönisch judo

Interviewing an Olympic champion is something special and always delivers thought-provoking words and ideas; it’s a unique kind of education.

We introduced the statistics, the almost impossible feat and the question in our first article in the series, which can be found here:

https://www.ijf.org/news/show/151-olympic-champions-tokyo-to-tokyo

A reminder of the question:

It could be said that to be in the company of an Olympic judo champion is to be presented with someone whom has reached an absolute pinnacle, a ceiling which cannot be surpassed; there is nowhere further to ascend in the world of sport.

Judo and school were together in the GDR sport school, with many sports. I wanted to be Olympic champion; I dreamt of the Olympics from the age of 12, from the time of the move.

I went to that school and to full time judo in 1993 and was the first woman in judo to go to that sport school. It didn’t make me different on the inside but I knew who I was and I became more open.

I love what I do now too.

When I came we started to build the judo system with the sport school.”

Photo by David Finch / Getty Images. For many we feel there is peace, and that can be magnetic and inspiring.

So the question is, did they become Olympic champion because of that character or did they become that person having won the Olympic gold medal?

“I think it’s the second one… I left home at 12 to boarding school.

Then I knew after that first win, I just knew.

I was only 23 when I won so it was a very short time to have amassed the experience needed from training camps. Despite that, on the day I woke up feeling today could be the day; it was really different. I beat her, Fernandez, and felt real flow. He spoke with me differently and I found new opportunities.

We often find Olympic champions speaking with freedom and certainty, unafraid to share an opinion, speaking of their lives and paths with confidence. Then it all went very fast from there. Following the stories of the first 24 Olympic champions in the series, winners from 1976 to 2021, we now share the words of Yvonne Boenisch, Athens 2004 Olympic champion in the -57kg category.