Paralympic judo gold medalist Lenia Ruvalcaba returns to training at Conade facilities

Paralympic judo gold medalist Lenia Ruvalcaba has returned to training at the Conade facilities after a year of absence, with the goal of becoming the world champion at the IBSA Judo World Championship 2018, to be held in Lisbon, Portugal, from November 16th to 18th, signaling the start of the road to Tokyo 2020.

"One of my personal goals is to become world champion, because I am a Paralympic champion, but not a world champion, that's my motivation, that's what brings me back, knowing that I still lack that gold medal," said the Toronto 2015 Parapan American champion.

The winner of the 2016 National Sports Award highlighted that an extra incentive is the possibility of winning two medals at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, one in her category and another in the mixed teams competition.

"Last year, the International Judo Federation announced that there will be team competitions, this makes us very happy, we want to achieve a new goal and bring two medals to our country in Tokyo 2020," she shared.

The judoka from Jalisco mentioned that she plans to start her competitive year at the Pan American Championship in Calgary, Canada, in May,

"We will also have a World Cup at the end of October, in Abu Dhabi, and on November 16th, the World Championship in Lisbon, Portugal, which will probably be the first qualifying event for Tokyo 2020," she explained.

Finally, the leading female exponent of Paralympic judo in Mexico shared that she will start her training gradually.

"I will start progressively because last year I had a corrective surgery for my left eye, I have strabismus, I am very grateful to Conade for supporting me with this operation, it was delicate and it took a while to receive medical clearance, it kept me out of training for the entire year, but in December, I was given the green light and I am back, there are no longer any risks or danger," she concluded.