IVO Dos Santos has been a hard man to track down in recent weeks.
The Australian judo star has been working overtime in preparation for his maiden Olympics in London.
Dos Santos, 26, from Werribee, has scoured Europe familiarising himself with the time zone, fine-tuning his body in training camps and coming face-to-face with potential opponents.
Side trips to the Czech Republic and Spain have certainly been no holiday.
“Coming to Europe was the right thing for us for a few reasons,” Dos Santos told the Weekly.
“Of course, getting adjusted to the time difference and weather was a big one. Europe is where there are many strong training camps held this time of the year and many of our competitors for London are on the mat.
“It has been awesome getting to test the waters with these guys and gauge our rivals a month out from the games.
“It wasn’t really practical for us to go all the way home for a few days before coming in to the Olympic Village, so we’re just stretching the trip out to one big, long adventure.”
Click on the image below for our gallery of all Wyndham athletes competing at the Olympics.
Dos Santos has worked for 20 years for the chance to represent his nation under the Olympic rings. It has been a single-minded goal since he was five and nothing has got in his way.
“This is all I have ever wanted out of life,” he said.
Dos Santos spoke of the sacrifices he has made to realise his Olympic dream. He broke it up into four key areas: the importance of making the right food choices, sticking to a training regime, having the mental strength to stay on course with plans set out by coaches and making sacrifices in his personal life. “The mission to get to the Olympics is an all-encompassing pursuit. It has to become an obsession otherwise you won’t make it. It is the pinnacle of sport for a reason.
“You have to wake up every day for four years and tell yourself it will be worth it, spend that day pushing your own limits, go to bed exhausted, get up the next morning and do it all again.”
Dos Santos will take to the mat at the ExCel Arena in the 66-kilogram division on Sunday at 6.30pm
(Australian time). The Western Judo Academy member, coached by Daniel Kelly and Maria Pekli, is ranked 13th in the world in his division and is confident he has the right tools to mix it with the most fancied entrants in the top 10.
“I am ranked 13 in the world out of 32 guys competing. This means I am on paper in the top half. My physical strength as well as cardio fitness means I can hang in there with the top guys,” he said.
“I also have pretty good tactical awareness and concentration, so if I can drag them in to my type of fight I can compete with almost anyone at my weight.”
The biggest question is whether it will be good enough to secure a medal for his country.
A guide might be found in the lead-up events when Dos Santos had to overcome a number of top class internationals to qualify.
“There’s guys in the draw that I’ve beaten and others I’ve lost to. If I can sneak through the first two rounds and make the top eight, then I am only two wins away from a medal.”
The tech savvy Dos Santos will be using social media and the internet to interact with fans and offer tips on health, nutrition, motivation and the odd inspiring quote. The Werribee Primary School, MacKillop College and Victoria University alumni documents his career on a variety of platforms, including his own website at ivojudo.com, Twitter and Facebook.
WEST’S FINEST AT OLYMPICS
Australian Olympians competing in with links to the western suburbs:
Adam Vella (shooting), Farzad Tarash (wrestling), Glenn Warfe (badminton), Ibrahim Balla (boxing), Ivo Dos Santos (judo), Lauryn Mark (shooting), Rachel Jarry (basketball), Renuga Veeran (table tennis), Ross Smith (badminton), Russell Mark (shooting), Tarren Otte (synchronised swimming).
