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Bound for Beijing 2008
Rubén Limardo is one of the 105 Venezuelan Olympic hopes; he has won two Fencing Junior World Championships and a gold medal in the Pan American Games Rio 2007. His goal now is to win a medal in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
The Venezuelan fencing is described as one of the American continent’s sport powers. It is the first South American power, contends for the first place in Central America and the third selection in the continent.
Such a distinction has been achieved thanks to its recent success. The Venezuelan fencing has beaten its own record with eight athletes classified to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Venezuelan fencer Rubén Limardo stands out in this group and represents one of the 105 Venezuelan Olympic hopes. He has devoted 17 years of his life to fencing and has achieved important success in two Fencing Junior World Championships and the Pan American Games Rio 2007. Now his goal is to win a medal in Beijing 2008.
This young fencer begins to look like an Olympic star due to his skills with the foil, his discipline and every-day effort. He is the oldest of three brothers, with whom he shares his passion for fencing.
How do you evaluate your career since you competed in junior fencing up to today, when you have classified for the Beijing Olympic Games?
All started thanks to our coach and uncle Ruperto Gazcón; he is a fencer too and graduated in the Soviet Union. At the beginning, it was very hard because we didn’t saw the results. Our coach used to tell us that we should not think about that, and that the results would eventually come. His advice has always been: “You must have faith and prepare well for the future”.
When Ruben was seven years old - and with eight months of training - he became junior national champion. That would be the prelude to win a world title, and two Fencing Junior World Championships in a road.
Ruben does not hide his satisfaction of having classified for Beijing 2008: “For our greatest satisfaction, now we are in the Olympic Games thanks to the great job we have done. This was our coach’s dream; he once told us that he would lead the team to the Olympic Games, and people would not believe him. But since 2005, Wolfgang Mejias, Francisco Limardo, Silvio Fernández and I have been working really hard. That’s how we achieved it”.
What have all this achievements meant?
A lot of sacrifice, love, perseverance, and devotion. I started when I was seven years old, and I’m 17 now. At the beginning, it was very hard because when I was 14 I left for Europe without my family, only with my brother and a group of athletes. We arrived in Ukraine and braved the inclement weather and the people’s coldness. I won’t change my people’s smile.
We were kids venturing in the world, and we knew what perseverance and discipline was. In those moments I thought that I would become an Olympic champion: I don’t know when, but while I am alive and performing I would do my best to be a good athlete and become the first.
When did you stop thinking of fencing as a children game and start devoting to this sport with responsibility and conscience?
“At the beginning it was a game because we like to hang out with friends. After I became national junior champion at the age of seven I broke my right hand and told y coach that I wanted to train with my left arm. It was very uncomfortable as I started, but I got along with it later. I think it helped me to be more serious. Later, in Ukraine, when I was 14, I saw what international fencing was all about. I participated in my first championship in 2000 in the United States. From that moment on, I took my career more seriously”.
What should be the qualities of a fencer?
According to Limardo, the key is to want and take on the responsibility regarding this sport discipline. “You have to arrive first to trainings and be the last to leave. We share our coach’s characteristics because he has never been a bad role model: We just have a little cup when we toast on December 31. You are not going to see me in a disco staying up until the early hours. We eat well and we take good care of ourselves because one night staying up until morning means one training day lost”.
When asked about what victory has given him the greatest satisfaction, he says that he has been number one in consecutive seven competitions since he started his career, but he points out that he did not expect to win a gold medal in the Pan American Games Rio 2007, “because I was not favorite and Cubans are always strong, but once I started the competition I started feeling in my element, and ready: I realized that it was my moment and I beat Andres Carrilo”.
You have experienced victory, but when your contenders get on the podium instead of you, how do you deal with that?
“I don’t give up and I always have faith. This year, I have lost by one touch, but I have not lost my faith because I know that victory can come at any time. We have to know that a good athlete some times wins and other times have to lose.”
Do you feel more confident now that you are going to Beijing than when you participated in the Pan American Games?
I have faith that I will win, and if I don’t, next time I will. This will be my first Olympic Games, but it can also be my last one and I have to seize the opportunity.
If you were not a fencer, what other sports would you devoted to?
I played volleyball, baseball and I chose fencing, but if I were not an athlete, I would be graduated and working, beause those are values our mother taught us. Maybe, I would be a teacher or an accountant. As a mater of fact, I am studying accounting and later I want to study physical education and stay in my uncle’s fencing school.
Do you perform any ritual before engaging a competition?
“Since I was a child, I visualized the moment of victory; I have confirmed the power of mind. When I listen to techno music I get inspired and feel that I’m receiving the medal. I feel the euphoria of victory and I even sweat”.
And have you already felt the Olympic medal?
Yes, I have experienced that moment.
Ruben Limardo has won a good reputation among fencers thanks to his accurate touches. “In the world, rumor has it that they have to watch out for the Venezuelans because we are well prepared. We are not favorites, but we know that we can obtain good results”.
Ministry of People’s Power for Communication and Information
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