The 40 under 40: the sporting and personal struggle of Alisson Cardozo

From 4 years to Alisson Cardozo He has had to fight against many things. Fight against tumors that occur in your joints. He fights against the lack of money that has meant he gets up earlier and works harder than anyone else. He fights against the machismo that still sees her as an outsider in the sport she practices. She fights against stereotypes, against bullying and against the predictions that seemed to warn her that she could not be champion of wrestling or qualify for the Olympic Games.

And yet, Alisson has won almost all of his fights. In this interview he talks about the difficult times he has had to live through. He shamelessly admits the defeats he has faced, but he also tells us about the causes and achievements that make her smile. She is 25 years old and when he is 25 years old she would like to live in the countryside, with her partner and his animals, learning to farm. For now, she has many challenges ahead, such as winning a medal at the Paris Olympics this year, in the category of 50 kg of the sport that she is passionate about: wrestling.

What disease do you suffer from and what happened when you were diagnosed with it?

I suffer from a disease called osteochondromas multiple. They are tumors that form in my joints. As a child it was very hard for me. When she hit me I ended up lame or made movements that hurt me. Over time I began to know myself, to know what stimuli I can't do because they hurt me. I learned to live with that and it is not something that limits me. The funny thing is that as a child I was always very diligent in academics, but sports had never caught my attention, perhaps due to the same illness.

And then what bug bit you so that, of all the sports, you chose wrestling?

(Laughs) In fact, it's the only sport I've ever played. Around the age of 13, someone came to my school, the Rodeo in San Cristóbal, talking about it and inviting me to some internships. At first I didn't stop any balls, but the next day the people in my classroom came saying that it was very cool and that they had a lot of fun. I got curious and started going to training. Obviously there were more men than women, but I insisted and the techniques they taught us seemed super cool.

What is wrestling?

It is a wonderful sport. I especially practice freestyle. The objective is to dominate your rival and make him put his back on the mat. One learns techniques for the takedown and it is a subject that requires learning and practice. I compete at 50 kilograms, because I am skinny, petite. That is the lightest.

He says that more boys than women attended and, still, several readers will think: that is a sport for men, not for girls. Did they criticize her for that?

Oh, sure. At school they called me nicknames. They made fun of me because they knew I was training judiciously. My arm began to show a little marks because it is inevitable and they told me that I was going to become a man, that I was going to become a 'tomboy' and things of that type.

And that affected her, I imagine…

Yes of course. There are many comments that even if you don't show it, they do affect you. I almost always talked about it with my mom, and she was the one who gave me confidence and told me that maybe it was because they didn't know the subject, that I shouldn't pay attention to them and things like that, but it was hard for me, I can't say no. . My mother at first also thought it was going to be a fun nothing morebut then he realized that this was serious and supported me even more.

How did you overcome that 'bad temper'? I would like you to speak at this point in the interview to those who are going through the same thing today as you were at that moment; someone who is being criticized for not fitting in, for seeking a dream different from the majority…

Well, I would say that to foolish words, deaf ears. OK plus the dream and you will surely ask me later what I'm up to now. At first a lot of people doubt you, but when you achieve it, a lot of people appear who say they have always believed in you. What you work for is always worth more than the ugly things they say to you!

She crossed the barrier of being a woman in a sexist world, she overcame her illness, bullying, being skinny and yet wanting to be a fighter. Has the lack of economic resources also been a problem?

Total! At first I practiced wrestling because it was free. There was no monthly payment or to buy uniforms, but as I started to compete there was already beginning to be a greatest difficulty. Several times I have stayed away from national trips, much more from international ones, because I did not have resources, but I still started to create strategies…

What was he doing?

(Laughter) Raffles, I started selling empanadas and some beans that I had left, ouch, very good. In the neighborhood, many people knew that I was practicing and they helped me a lot. People have been very supportive of me on that issue. Sometimes I was able to participate in competitions, thanks to that help.

We return to the fact that sport in Colombia needs a lot of support…

Yes, but in the case of the struggle, since people still do not fully understand it, it needs much more. There are almost no sponsors. We need to give it more visibility. We need too many resources to go to international fields and competitions that are in themselves what provide the level.

What is your day like? A training and work routine?

I get up 10 to 6. I prepare my breakfast, I kiss my mom, who is an employee and works here at home with her machines, and I go from the Guacamayas neighborhood to Salitre. It takes me about an hour and a half, although she works for me (laughs). In 'TransMi' I listen to music or podcasts, things like that that I like. I get to the training place and do two and a half hours of physical work and then I have my lunch and then I start the specific fighting part. Then I start studying, because I am also studying psychology and so on every day of my life.

And how far has he come in wrestling?

The greatest thing that has happened to me is qualifying for the Paris Olympic Games and I still can't believe it. I was fifth in Belgrade last year and although I obviously left without a medal that strengthened my faith and made me work hard to get to Paris. I have been national champion, in Huila, in 2015. And so on. I'm missing a lot.

When and how did you receive the news that you qualified for Paris?

Imagine that I lost the National Games to seek classification, then I attended the pre-Olympic qualifier and in the last fight it was known if I passed or not. Better said: I cried, I jumped, I danced. There were too many emotions. Last February 29 I had that news and it is a day that I will never forget.

And how is the preparation going?

I prepare by giving value to everything I do. It gives me a lot of confidence, when facing combat, to know that things cost me and are not free. It fills me with courage. I am doing work with a sports psychologist and my family fills me with a lot of support and love. That and constant physical work are my key. I want to thank my entire team, my boyfriend, my family, the Wrestling League in Bogotá and the District Institute of Recreation and Sports (IDRD).

One usually always talks about these moments of improvement with people like you, but failure must also be normalized as part of life. Do you remember a defeat that hit you very hard?

Those 2023 National Games. Phew! I lost and it hit me extremely hard. I felt at a very good level. I came from being fifth in the world and when it didn't happen, I cried almost every day. The strategy part failed, and the referees interfered a little, it must be said, what a shame… ha ha. But you know what? My dream was still intact: reach the Olympic Games. When something like that happened, I was like: Ugh, I'm not going to train again! But I got up the next day to run. And they told me: weren't I going to train again?… ha, ha. But, deep down, I knew that I couldn't give up that motivation I had and that is bigger than everything, and look: I did it! Now comes the hard part…

What's coming is the best, I say… What do you say to a woman your age, who is fighting an illness or who is being criticized for what she does?

You have to love yourself a lot and the first person you have to believe in is yourself. It's not proving anything to anyone. It is showing oneself that one can do it, knowing that life has hard moments and happy moments. The important thing is always to find a dream; anything: it can be a house, a college career, a sport that you are passionate about and give everything for that dream. That is the key to happiness.

What do we do with machismo? Do you still have unpleasant experiences in your field because you are a woman?

Yes, quite a bit. Various comments such as: “female wrestling is much easier than male wrestling; that's not even sport” or people you don't know and say: “oh, but those old women are going to grope there.” But what does it matter… we have to continue!

If you met one of those people today who bullied you at school because you liked wrestling, what would you say to them?

Nothing! If you greet me, I greet you. If you congratulate me, I thank you. I feel like there are no hard feelings or anything like that. Suddenly, with my work and what I have achieved, reconsider about what happened but otherwise I feel that the work speaks louder than words.

It's a problem. Shall we talk again when a medal is brought back from Paris?

Oh yes. One!

JOSE MANUEL ACEVEDO

For the time

In X: @JoseMAcevedo