After winning three gold medals in the Odesur, the Abraham twins declared themselves focused on being protagonists in the ‘Santiago 2023’ Pan American Games and fighting with everything for the ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
Antonia and Melita Abraham, Team Chile figures in rowingThey announced this Friday your sensations following the successful passage through the South American Games of Asunción 2022, in Paraguay.
The twins of the national rowing were protagonists in Guarani waters when they achieved between them three gold medalshelping to the national delegation is currently in third place in the medal tablefollowing Brazil and Colombia.
At a press conference, at the offices of Red Bull Chile, the outstanding national athletes they commented from the outset their passage through the Odesur of Paraguay.
Before the question of BioBioChileMelita Abraham stated that “We might not match the gold medals in Cochabamba, but as a team we were able to consolidate a good level, we competed with good results, good times and got six gold medals”.
“We are satisfied with what has been done and aiming for the greatest goal that is the Pan American 2023and the whole team is focused on achieving a good performance”, he added.
Meanwhile, Antonia indicated that “a good job was done (In Paraguay). There were things that didn’t turn out the way we wanted, but everything never turns out 100%, so we have to keep working and set our sights on next year -specific Pan-American, classifications and ‘Santiago 2023’-, with a lot of desire”.
The unfortunate episode of the junkwhich prevented a new gold for Antonia and for Team Chile in the South Americans, was a topic that the penquista might not avoid. He was leading the test with some comfort in the bay of Asunción, but his boat got hooked on this plant with a long and flexible stem that grows in the water.
Finally, Antonia Abraham finished in the third place the test and the bronze medal was hung, a situation that did not leave the athlete happy at all.
“What happened to me It might have happened to anyone, at first I didn’t understand it, but in the end even so, with a seaweed and everything, I was able to finish third. It was hard work because the boat was heavy and now we have to turn the page. This serves as learning and made me grow as a person and an athlete, ”she said.
“They provoked me and for the specific Pan American I’m not going to give those people a choice. I go with everything and you just have to learn, is a stone on the road. I did not manage to have the three golds, but that bronze is still worth it, ”she added.
Faced with another query from this medium, from how has been the projection path when going from U23 events to Adult tournaments -already with a podium in this last category-Antonia indicated that “at first it cost us. We had reached finals in World Cups, but we always finished fourth and just 0.20 (hundredths) from the medal. We always got into the final, but we mightn’t reach the podium”.
“And finally this year we managed to get on the podium -with a silver in the World Rowing Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia-, which gave us the confidence and motivation that we need now to be able to continue growing in the boat”, he added.
Melita, for her part, said that “we have been in high performance since we were 15 years old and our coach always tells us that it is 10 years of hard work to just start seeing results”.
“We have been eight years without stopping, without losing focus, with falls, with triumphs and only now in the adult boat, in an Olympic event, we are starting to give that to speak globally and that is what we have been waiting for almost five years,” he added.
The Abraham twins will face the 2023 Pan American Games in the waters of San Pedro de La Paz, his cradle in the oar. Faced with the great responsibility of being local, the Chileans indicated that “it is very big (the commitment) to compete at home, in Chile, you have to work very hard, not trust yourself, and do it as if we were going to a world championship. It will be a pressure, a responsibility, but we have a lot of confidence because we have worked hard and we have done very well”.
“We want to assume the locality with a lot of pride, with a lot of passion and we are going to take this event as if it were our end of the world. In fact, it is the last competition of that season and we are going to be giving everything, assuming that responsibility in the best possible way”, they added.
Finally, when referring to the Olympic cycle for the 2024 Paris GamesMilita pointed out that “the classification system of our test, which is the two without a helmsman, it’s the world cup. The only way to classify is at the world levelwhich is usually done in Europe a year before”.
“That is why next year we are going to have a tour of Europe like three World Cups and then we are going to do the World Cup, which will be in August and where the first 11 boats qualify for the Olympic Games. If we don’t classify there, we have a second instance of classifying, in May 2024 -very close to the Games- where 10 boats qualify and they all face each other, that’s a slaughterhouse”, he added.
“Our goal is to classify and not give margin. When we dropped out of Tokyo we finished twelfth, they were qualifying 11th, and we lost qualifying on the final shovel, because we were running the 1,900 meters out of 2,000 in position to qualify. And now we are not going to give such a narrow range….”, he sentenced.
