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Daniella
Krukwer
What are your future goals and how are you training toward
them?
I’m training toward the next Olympic games in four
years. I came in fifth in 2004. I was injured in semi-finals,
and I want another chance. Before that I have a couple of
World Championships, one in two years, and this is the most
important. Then, there’s international championships,
panoramic, that I’m training for. At the start of
the year I was still rehabilitating my elbow. A couple of
months ago I competed again, came in third place in world
cup in Prague, seventh in Netherlands. I felt like I was
back in the game. Now I’m training pretty hard for
the world championships.
Tell us about how you got started judo in 1980, when
you were five.
I started by going to watch my brothers, imitating them
in their movements in judo, and got enthusiastic. That’s
when my coach said we might as well put her on the mat since
she’s doing the same outside the mat. I started very
young. I wasn’t supposed to start that young. He didn’t
want such a young competitor or student. They started usually
at seven or eight. I just imitated my brothers, fighting
on my own. And people were watching me, very surprised to
see how I did so well without learning, and I really wanted
to do it. He got convinced.
You play many other sports, too, so why did you choose to
focus on judo?
When I was 13, I decided to quit judo; I didn’t want
to train anymore. I decided to try athletics, high jump,
basketball, tennis, triathlon, many sports, as many as I
could get. Eventually I stuck with high jump and hurdles
athletics until I was 19. I left judo for almost six years.
Then in the military service in Israel my general or chief
saw me, doing course on self-defense. He looked at me and
asked what do I want to do with this sport, what do you
want to achieve? I answered, “I want to be the best,”
and he told me to go back. So I did.
What did you do during your service in the Israeli Defense
Forces?
I was a self-defense guide. Taught other people. Did a course
to become a guide. I taught soldiers, men and women, how
to defend themselves. It was very interesting, actually.
You meet different cultures, different people. My best friends
are from there. You can really get to know people when you’re
under pressure, under other circumstances than being home.
Meet all sorts of people.
What motivates you?
The joy I get. I mean, I’m pleased with what I do.
I’m living my dream. I’ve always wanted to be
the best in what I do, and I’m fortunate, really lucky
to be able to do it and live with it. I take a lot of pleasure
in what I do. That’s why I do it. It’s hard;
it’s not an easy life. You have to put aside a lot
of cultural stuff. You can’t really go to parties
all the time. You have to have a healthy life. But I think
it’s more important that I enjoy what I do even though
I live quite far from my parents.
Do you have plans to return to Israel?
I’m not sure where I will end up. Depends on the chances
I have here to help with judo or over there or maybe in
the states. It’s a bit complicated. I haven’t
seen my parents for a year and a half already. One brother
is in Spain and one is in the United States. If I can combine
trips, maybe I’ll get lucky this year and my parents
will come over to Argentina and see where I live.
Do your brothers compete too?
My brothers did when they were smaller. (I’m the youngest.)
My older brother was national champion in Argentina for
juniors, and my younger brother was second in Israel.
What's your most memorable moment in sports?
Of course it was the time I won the World Championships
in Japan. It was an incredible moment, the most beautiful
moment in my life. It was like a dream come true. I touched
the sky with my hands. It felt like that. I couldn’t
believe it.
Judo is not only a sport it’s a way of life, a philosophy.
So complete. You have to be fast, strong, resistant. You
have to have the mind like a lion and in the same time you
have to be as calm as a Buddhist. So you have everything
in it.
What has competition taught you?
You learn a lot. I know that the only way to learn is by
losing, actually. The only way to get better is to not be
depressed when you lose but to learn from it. And to want
to make yourself better. The constant reach for being better,
improving yourself. Not only in judo but in life as well.
What are some of the things you study outside of judo?
I learned how to make perfume. I like it very much. I love
perfume. Besides that I do muscle therapy. I made a course
here. I learned a couple of years, and it’s very interesting.
You have the basics of reflexology, chiropractics, massage
therapy. I’m about to continue learning with acupuncture.
Any advice for girls just starting out in judo? Do you
see yourself as a role model for them?
My advice is always to enjoy what you do. Enjoy the sport.
This is the only way to improve yourself. Try not to get
too much into politics and bureaucratic stuff. Because I
know it’s quite difficult everywhere. Try not only
to learn the sport but the philosophy of it.
I’m not sure I see myself as a role model. I know
many people do, but I think I’m a simple person who
has had a lot of motivation, and the luck to make it.
Any thoughts about your Jewish background or identity that
you'd like to share with us? Thoughts on being a Jewish
female athlete?
Of course I’ve thought about it. It’s always
on my mind. Last week I just lost my David star, my chain.
I was really sad. This week I went to buy another one. I
try to keep in touch as much as possible with the Jewish
community here. Since I’m not in Israel, I feel the
need to be in touch with the Jewish community. Sometime
I receive mail on my website from people who congratulate
me from our community. I feel very close to them. I’m
half Israeli.
Have you experienced any obstacles as a woman in judo?
As a Jewish woman?
It’s always a bit harder for a woman not only in Judo
but in almost every sport. We’re trying to gain our
place, and it’s not always easy. Today, women have
more space than before. But it’s hard. You have to
work twice as hard to get the chances men get. When you
go to a World Championship or international championship,
you always have six men and maybe one or two women going
on that trip. And I don’t understand why. There are
some countries, maybe Cuba, that take a lot of girls. Maybe
it’s easier for them.
What are some of the best adjectives your friends have used
to describe you?
Let me ask, I have one right here. [Pause] She says “strong
woman” in every sense and sufficient, efficient.
What opportunities have you gained by being an athlete?
I have had the opportunity to compete not only for Israel,
but for Argentina, where I was born. And I got a really
important opportunity from the International Olympic committee,
which gave me a scholarship that was very important in my
career and helped me to win the world championships, and
I will always be very grateful. It was economic support
for different kids and for training in Argentina where the
economic situation is hard.
Why did you leave Israel in 1999?
I moved back because the Israeli federation decided to go
for another competitor in my category to try to qualify
for the Olympic games at that time. I was very offended.
I thought at the time that the decision wasn’t professional.
I was lucky to have had the chance to return to Argentina.
It was a difficult time.
*All interviews were conducted by Jodi Werner Greenwald, the calendar author, for express purposes of the Jewish + Female = Athlete project during 2005.
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