“Since I was little I dreamed of being in the Games”
MADRID, 24 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The young Spanish jumper Ana Carvajal does not hide that competing “generates a lot of anxiety”, but achieving goals such as an Olympic place for Paris 2024 makes it “worth it”, at the same time that she is clear that “winning a medal” in the French capital “it's a bit of a dream” due to his lack of experience.
“I have always wanted to jump, because it was fun, and there they took me to jump and said I had potential, that's where I started. Practically, I saw jumps and said 'I want to go there'. Now I am in my 2nd year of Baccalaureate and this year it is quite complicated “I study at night and on weekends more or less,” the athlete said about her beginnings in an interview with Europa Press.
Carvajal, 17 years old, is clear that in his good performance, after entering the final of the 10-meter platform modality of the World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka (Japan) with the prize of a ticket to the Paris Games, the daily work is key. “Discipline is very necessary, but so is talent,” he said.
“There are many people who are a 10 and are not going to achieve it because they need talent, and if you have talent and you do not have discipline, you are not going to achieve much, because in the end you need to train and do many things. You have to get rid of doing other things that may be important in your life,” he added.
A situation that “costs a lot” to the Madrid woman, who renounces other realities. “For example, the fact that all your friends go away or have things to do and you have to train on Friday afternoons, well, it's hard,” she acknowledged.
“But it's what it takes and when you get the Olympic spot this summer, it's worth it. Even if I hadn't gotten it either, it's worth it, just to travel and go anywhere is important,” Carvajal celebrated.
A prize that has not “yet” assimilated. “I went to compete, I didn't have any pressure, and I didn't expect it at all. Plus I was going with an easy jump, I didn't expect it, and when they told me that you've qualified, I was super shocked,” she commented on her access to the Games as a finalist in the World Cup.
And despite being 17 years old, Carvajal showed ambition. “Paris is already in my head, although it is very shocking to process. Since I was little I dreamed of being in the Games, it is the dream of every athlete,” he revealed.
“You have to train a lot for that too, but beating the Chinese is not impossible either, although it is complicated. But hey, I believe that if you work hard, you can, it is very difficult, but you can,” he commented on the option of a podium in Paris.
In any case, he admits that “winning a medal in Paris is a bit of a dream,” because he is still “young” and “has a lot to learn.” “And getting the perfect competition is also very complicated, and to get the third I have to get a very good competition, but maybe the rest fail too,” she hoped.
“Actually, I don't prepare myself in a special way mentally to compete, I'm very natural, especially when I don't have motivation. Competing generates a lot of anxiety. That's why the competition in Japan went very well for me because I didn't have anything of nerves, so it was like 'I go there and do what the coach tells me', but normally it tends to be a little worse because of the nerves,” concluded one of the great promises in jumping.