Damián Quintero and the 'day after' the Olympic silver: "After the Games I didn't want to do anything"

Breaking will be an Olympic sport in the next Paris 2024 Games and cricket, softball, flag-football, lacrosse and squash will arrive at the Los Angeles 2028 Games, but its entry means the departure of others. Those left behind, those sacrificed. Karate lived the good life with its presence at the Tokyo 2020 Games, but after its disappearance from the Olympic card it has returned to amateurism. The scholarships, the sponsors and the impact left as quickly as they came and many leaders, such as the Spanish Sandra Sánchez, chose to withdraw.. Damián Quintero, no. At 39 years old and with an Olympic silver around his neck, he is still there: tomorrow (6:00 p.m.) he will seek his first World Cup in his modality, kata, in Budapest, after being runner-up in the last three editions.

Without the Olympic Games, without being able to go to Paris 2024, what's the point of continuing? I feel like it's not the time to stop. Last year I had a downturn, I'm not going to deny it. When the euphoria of the Tokyo Games disappeared, I didn't want to do anything, not train or anything.. I had touched the sky…. Why do more? But I decided to take advantage of the medal. I lost the ADO scholarship because karate stopped being Olympic, but I still had sponsors and could afford to be a full-time karate fighter.. He had to enjoy that privilege. In the end, whether he is an Olympian or not, people recognize him the same. That is. I'm not a footballer, but people look at me on the street and I sound familiar. I am a familiar face. Sometimes they stop me and talk to me about when I appeared in Pasapalabra, in El Hormiguero or in La Resistencia. An Olympic medal changes your life in that sense. If I had been fourth in Tokyo I would have already retired because now it would be much more difficult for me to find support. Although I have also worked on it. On TikTok, for example, only Ana Peleteiro has more followers among the Olympic medalists. It is a very powerful tool. I don't want to be an influencer, sell my life, but I like having fun and if I have to do a little dance, I do it.. Before the Games I decided to create a personal brand, have a professional team and seek more visibility.

At 39 years old, he sees his future in show business, as a youth coach or as an aeronautical engineer, which was his job before karate was Olympic. It seems to me that none of the three things. After this World Cup I want to take my foot off the accelerator and focus on several projects that I have underway.. I have studied sports management and I would like to be involved in federations, institutions, clubs to try to depoliticize these organizations and make them really focused on the athlete, on helping those who compete.. I don't consider anything else, although I am grateful to be able to appear on TV and I am grateful to my mother for pushing me to study Aeronautical Engineering, which helped me a lot. So this World Cup and no more. Afterwards I want to lower the piston, yes, because I have been in the elite for many years. Right now I spend seven or eight hours at the Madrid High Performance Center and when I get home I just want to rest and chat for a while with my wife.. It's very difficult to do anything else. I want to dedicate the afternoons to my projects, although next year there is a team World Cup in Spain, in Pamplona, and it is possible that I will compete until then. I would like to be part of that event, it will be very cool.

How many times have you been told in recent days that this World Cup is your great opportunity? They have all told me the same thing, that winning a World Cup is what I need, that now it is my turn. I'm not obsessed. I know it would be the finishing touch to my career, but I really value having qualified for my fourth consecutive final. That streak shows that I have been working for many years and working well. In the final I just want to go out on the tatami, enjoy, give my best version and leave happy with myself. If gold is worth it, it will be gold. In the last Tokyo Games and in the last three World Cups, he was beaten by the Japanese Ryo Kiyuna, who has retired. Do you feel bad about not being able to beat him on the tatami? I miss the rivalry I had with him, it's true. For many years there was a lot of competition, we fought for almost all the victories in almost all the competitions, it was nice. In fact it was a very healthy competition. But the best thing about kata is that you do not depend on the opponent, unlike in kumite, in the fight. I can focus on myself. And also the other finalist is the Turkish Ali Sofuoglu [bronze in the Games and in the last two World Cups] with whom I have also had a rivalry for a long time. This year we already faced each other in the final of the European Games, for example, and I won.