The swimmer from Rosario Fernando “Pipo” Carlomagno won the first silver medal for the Argentine delegation at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, in the competition of 100 meters backstroke category S7 (cerebral palsy), but far from celebrating it, he expressed an ambivalent feeling because he assured that he arrived in the Japanese capital “to win the gold, and he narrowly escaped.”
“What was in my calculations when I came to Tokyo was to win the gold medal, because I was prepared for that., but what I did not count on was that the Ukrainian Andrii Trusov was so strong and he would end up taking it“Charlemagne lamented in a telephone dialogue with Télam from Japan.
Charlemagne, 28, thus added the third medal for the delegation after the two bronze ones that his compatriots obtained, the Entre RÃos from Gualeguaychú, Antonella RuÃz DÃaz (F41 shot put), and the also rosarina Yanina MartÃnez (in the 200 meters T36 of athletics).
“In the final I broke the previous world record (with 1m.08s.83 / 100), but Trusov beat me (1m.08s.14 / 100) in the same test, so I can say that mine is the second world record in the specialty, “he commented with a hint of disagreement.
“We knew that the Ukrainian was a very tough opponent, but I made a big mistake on the American lap (a turn on himself to retake the last 50 meters of the pool) and that, at this level, is very expensive. But I still fought and if there were five more meters to go, surely I would have won. So when the test ended, he wanted to have a rematch immediately, “he warned.
However, as the hours passed, he recognized that he was calming down, “especially when congratulatory messages began to fall on the cell phone. But especially there was one, my partner’s, that reminded me that mine was Argentina’s first swimming medal since the 2004 Athens Paralympic GamesWhen, in my same specialty, it was obtained by who is my maximum reference in this sport, Guillermo Marro “.
Heritage and sportsmanship
Of course, not only is Marro a beacon in his sports career, but he also has someone much closer, his own father, from whom he not only inherited the spastic paraparesis with which he was born and that especially affects the mobility of your legs, but mainly his sportsmanship.
Fernando Charlemagne Sr. was also a Paralympic swimmer in three consecutive Games, those of Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and the aforementioned one in Athens 2004, when Marro won the silver medal also in the 100 meter backstroke. “My disability is motor and I inherited it from my father, because it is something genetic, but my two brothers, on the other hand, were not affected,” he said.
Support and sports scholarships
“Pipo”, who was born in Rosario on August 13, 1993, did “a postgraduate” at River Plate between 2010 and 2012, when he came to seek growth in his sports career and achieved it. “In River I took a quality leap and also shared a team with Marro (10 years older than him), the best in my specialty“, he said.
“But What actually also provided fundamental support to my career in swimming was the Enard (National High Performance Sports Entity), since it modified the entire structure of the Argentine Olympic and Paralympic sport., and it gave him a leap in quality because he professionalized it, “he remarked.” With his scholarship and the one also granted by the National Sports Secretariat, I can support my family, “he said.
Flag bearer of the Argentine delegation at the closing ceremony of the 2014 Para-South American Games in Santiago de Chile, where he registered a consecrating performance by obtaining four gold medals and one silver, Charlemagne argued that “what happens to the Paralympic sport is that its diffusion in the media should reach no more than five percent compared to the one given to the Olympian. “
“Pipo” trains and competes at the Echesortu Fútbol Club in his native Rosario, where futsal is the sport that most represents that institution. “There is no specific age limit to stop practicing this activity, but rather a psychological one. swimming is a very tough sport. These were my second Games after Rio de Janeiro 2016, but the good thing is that the next Paris 2024 will be in three years and not four“, he expressed with a quota of humor that characterizes him beyond some sporting goal temporarily not reached.
Tokyo 2020 protocols
“Here we are full of restrictions, we have lunch between plastic panels, you cannot talk to anyone and you cannot leave the Paralympic Village. It is impossible to interact with, for example, great athletes from other countries, or to go see other sports. I wanted to attend Gustavo Fernández’s tennis matches and I was left with the desire “, he resigned himself.
Nevertheless in the balance of his current life he has more reason to celebrate than to regretBecause beyond the sporting success that came from the silver medal that will be taken from the Japanese capital, on a personal level she is going through a great moment because her partner “is eight months pregnant. And at the beginning of October our first daughter will be born, who will be called Aurora“, he commented with undisguised happiness.
“Plus I am finishing my career as an elementary school teacher“, warned Fernando Charlemagne Jr., whose mother is a physical education teacher and his two brothers” are also athletes. “” Pipo “has the surname of a king, of a Roman emperor, but especially of a beautiful family of athletes.
Hundredths of the podium
For its part, Rosario Yanina MartÃnez was only three hundredths from the podium and finally was fourth in the 100m T36 test. Martinez, whowho had won gold in this specialty at Rio 2016 and this time he conquered a bronze medal in the 200 meters and added another Paralympic diploma for the national delegation.
The also Flag bearer at the opening ceremony, she set a time of 14s 65/100, just 0s03 behind bronze and 0s05 behind silver. The race was won by China’s Yiting Shi, who took the gold medal and set a new world record with 13s 61/100, followed by Russia’s Elena Ivanova (silver with 14s 60/100) and New Zealander Danielle Aitchison (bronze with 14s 62/100).
While, Antonella Ruiz Diaz -the first bronze medal for Argentina in shot put- was in 9th position in discus throw with a mark of 21.42 and also ended his great participation in Tokyo 2020.
On the other hand, Mercedina Romina Fernández finished sixth in the F32 shot put and thus closed her debut at the Paralympic level. His best shot in the final in Tokyo reached 4.41m.
In swimming, Nadia Báez finished fifth in the final of the 100m breaststroke (SB11) with a time of 1.30.77 and added a new Paralympic diploma for the Argentine delegation. In this way, he ended his participation in Tokyo 2020. In addition, the Chaco Daniela Giménez arrived eighth in the final of the 200 meters combined (SM9), with a record of 2: 39.60, and accumulated his second Paralympic diploma in Tokyo.
On the eighth day of competition for the Games, Argentina also participated in the wheelchair tennis tournament. Gustavo Fernández from Cordoba was eliminated in the quarterfinals, after losing 7-5, 3-6 and 6-1 with the British Gordon Reid in 2 hours and 30 minutes of play. The “Lobito” Fernández got a Paralympic diploma as in the London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016 Games.
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