News : "We play it two days a year and if you're not there it seems that you have not done anything that year"

July Takacs do not beat around the bush He says things by name and has no qualms about recognizing what is needed. The Spanish-Hungarian marcher won last summer in Berlin the first medal in a major international competition of his career. At 29 years old, he is one of the world references of the 50 kilometers. She has gone through many stages in her life, but she has learned from all this and thanks to it she has grown and become herself. No blunder or fun we talked with her in the program 21 of the second season of Radio Corridor.

What is the secret of our march, July, what do they feed you?

"The success of our march is our tradition and the technicians we have. Obviously train a lot and well. We have a superpower team and over with very young athletes that as the march is bottom they last us many more years. That promises a lot. "

Tell us a bit about your story ...

"I did not come to Spain because of the sport. I came by my parents, because of my father's work. We had a contact in Spain because my stepfather is half Spanish. We decided to move (well, they decided it since little power of decision I had with 14 years). I was fine in Hungary, but I had to come. Thank God I adapted quite quickly. The first few months were hard, but after a year I was comfortable and I did not want to go back. The only thing I asked my parents is that I wanted to keep marching. I started with athletics in Hungary with 10 years old and with 12 or 13 I decided to go. I think that just after arriving, after four days I started training at Blume. "

July, the march is not the most popular modality among young athletes ...

"For me to decide on the march was not difficult. It's true that at first I did not like it either, it was not a love at first sight (I do not believe in that either, in the arrows). I had a hard time because I did not get the technique. In my first competition I was the penultimate. In quotation marks forced by the club and by my trainer in Hungary because I ended up taking the trick and suddenly I started to win. I know it's not the most popular test, it's the ugly duckling of athletics, but if you try and if you are good at the bottom it can be a good option. I was running in the bunch and in the march I won and obviously one likes to win competitions ".

Did you see yourself running four or five hours?

"Never. I was one of those who said: "Me a 50? Never". I never considered doing a 50, I had enough with the 20. When I changed from 10 to 20 I already had my wars, so imagine the jump from 20 to 50. I went through a time of demotivation, I thought about quitting, but 50 was a new stimulus at the beginning of last season. Nothing has gone wrong. "

"I suppose that in the end the love or passion towards this sport keeps you going. Most of the time it's not pretty. You have small moments of glory that make up for everything you suffer. In those moments you feel so good that you forget the bad. But the truth is that most of the time is work in the shade. Above us we do not make speed, we can not compete every weekend. We play everything two days a year and if you're not there it seems that you have not done anything that year. It's pretty ugly many times. But when the downs come, it keeps you motivated by the memory of the little glories you've had in your life and that's why you want to continue, because we love to feel this. "

Are there more young athletes who suffer from psychological disorders than we think?

"Of course. It happens to all of us. It's impossible for you to get out every year. We are not machines. What happens is that bad people do not tell it. We try to always show strong. When something does not come out sometimes you close yourself in your world, but it is convenient to seek help, professional or whatever you need. But it's impossible to solve the problems alone. "

You have been supporting a professional for a couple of years ...

"My biggest problems have always been psychological. In 2015 I decided to move from Madrid to Barcelona and I had a bad time. I was obsessed with the Games, I thought that if I did not qualify, the world would end. It cost me a lot to adapt to the Montse system, my coach. I was not used to those trainings, I made very bad marks for what I was. I qualified for the World Cup I do not know how and a month before Montse even told me that if I wanted to resign. There we contacted Pablo, he began to help me but without thinking about the Games. In the end the World Cup went well. LMind is everything, if you block yourself mentally, even though you are very strong physically, you are out. That helped me well and I qualified. The Games then I stayed big or I do not know what could happen. Then I realized that it was not that bad either. Being an Olympian is already very difficult and I valued it. Neither does your life change, then the sun rises, it sets, your family continues to love you and then a season later people do not remember if you went to the Games or not. "

How does Chuso García Bragado influence the career of Julia Takacks?

"Chus was decisive in that we chose to prepare the 50, obviously. I had never thought about it and between that I did not know what to do, whether to continue or not, it emerged that 50 was going to be official distance in the European, we talked about it, and he, with his experience, told me yes, that next to him everything It could go well. And it went well. "

In the end the grand prize arrived in Berlin ...

"I value the way very much. The result was a plus, but I prepared myself so mentally and I was so sure that I knew I was going to wear the medal. I did not know what color. I was going to do my career because in 50, as you are not aware of yourself, you are lost. We prepare so well that we even train thinking about the heat, when in Berlin most think there will be no high temperatures. But Chus warned us. "

Recently it has been known that 50 will disappear after Doha ...

"You have to renew yourself. It is true that I am comfortable in this distance, that last year was the debut, with good marks, but this season I am already much more comfortable. Next year we will see. We are experts in making plan b, c, d, so I do not care much either. After Tokyo, when there are other distances (they are still debating), we will see. A 35 I would like, really. "

"I am to set myself short-term goals. It is true that the Games are always there, they are a big goal of each athlete, but right now I do not care, next year will be another story. The girls of the 20 yes can get ticket for Tokyo if they are finalists, but we will see what happens there. Let's see how the theme of the 50 is. I hope that the 50th female is Olympic, I could not be happier. "

July Takacs would be happy to Doha with ... "a medal".

Listen to the interview with Takacs from the 26th minute of the following links: