Here we leave you an interview with María Pujol, carried out by the uncheck.
María Pujol She is one of those Sevillian athletes who battles in triplicate, and not only because of the disciplines of her sport, triathlon, but in her life. She struggles to achieve her sporting goals, to carve out a present and a future in a discipline that is sacrificed and not always grateful, and to find a place in a difficult world in which women do not always have it easy.
María Pujol is a Sevillian triathlete who pursues a dream, the Olympic Games, but which is already a reality: third in the European Under 23 Duathlon Championship, third in the 2007 European Cup in Turkey, third in the 2009 America's Cup in Ferrol, 13th in the 2009 Triathlon World Cup in Hungary, 14th in the 2009 Elite Triathlon European Championship in the Netherlands and 26th in the 2009 Final World Championship Series in Australia. In reality, the dream is already quite real.
-Name?
-Maria Pujol Perez.
-Age?
-29 years.
-Are you still on vacation?
-Not yet, at the beginning of November I have already started the preseason.
-May I ask you where it happened?
-Well, I started them in Morocco. I ended the season with a competition there and then I took advantage of it. Then I have been around here very close. Other years I have traveled, but this year I did not feel like it much.
-If an ordinary person takes advantage of their vacations to do sports, an athlete takes advantage of ...
-To read, rest, do other sports, see friends ... do what you cannot usually do.
-Illustrate us, it's been preseason now, but how long have you not competed?
-Well, now I have changed my coach and it all depends on the calendar that we schedule, but I don't think we'll start until February or March. Everything will depend on the calendar that we mark.
-Is it better on wheels, on your feet or swimming?
-I have reached a very homogeneous moment, I have improved a lot in swimming, on the bike. I come from athletics. Swimming is the hardest thing, but to be competitive you have to be strong in everything.
- What tires more?
-Swimming generates a lot of anxiety and stress in the beginning, in the end there are 60 triathletes at the same time, there is anxiety, fights, blows in the water ... Then the running on foot is what tires more, psychologically and physically.
-You are a triathlete, three sports in one, to what would you apply that philosophy of three in one?
-To life the same, to everything in general.
-A woman as physically strong as you, does she cause a lot of respect among men?
-They look at you, muscularly it is true that you are more defined, you transmit more character, muscularly you seem more aggressive. There are people who do impose it. But hey, when they meet you later all that changes.
-A sport apart from yours?
-Many, tennis, skiing, but my sport is so specific ... and the muscle group so specific that you can get injured, it is better not to risk it.
-An athlete apart from you.
-I admire many athletes, but I do not have any idols. Maybe Nadal, if he had to say one, out of mentality. But I don't really have any idols.
-Why would you use the motto, “yes, we can”.
-For everything, at any time of adversity in life, sports, you look crestfallen and say "yes, we can" and you get ahead. "Yes, I can".
-What is it that 'could never…'.
-I could never give up.
-Is there a lot of machismo in triathlon?
-Something there is, there still is, but other sports, such as mountain biking, there is more machismo, they are more behind in that aspect. Fortunately, the prizes in triathlon are the same, at least. In others they give less to women.
- Booties, bicycle or swimming goggles?
-Boots, and swimming goggles, the bike will lend it to me. I do not have now, I usually give it to the team.
-Can you ride a bike without competing?
-Of course I am capable, and I love walking with my bicycle, going to the center by bicycle, for example.
-What would you do to get to London 2012?
-Keep fighting to work like nobody else. If it can't be London, then there's also Rio de Janeiro. The classification is very complicated. There is one classified already, and then two fight for another place, it would have to be better than them until May 2012. In the end, one, two or three can go, but it will be difficult.
-If you could choose, which Olympiad would you have chosen?
-We only take the triathlon from Sydney, but with being an Olympic enough is enough, being in the village and living there is an experience for life, no matter the country or the city.
-Do you have any hobbies?
-No, none. Nor superstitions.
-What was your last 'uncheck'?
-This afternoon, I went to have a snack and drink a chocolate palm.
-Do you follow a very strict diet?
-I usually eat clean, except for a sweet, or some exception. Anyway I burn a lot in training, nothing happens for any exception.
-What would you stand out from if you could?
-Of the legal maximum to attend the Games.
-Can you live on triathlon?
-I am currently miserable, I live in my mother's house.
-And how do you face tomorrow?
-I'm studying a master's degree in sports management. Training myself, because it is not known, I would like to continue in the triathlon, I would like my career to serve for tomorrow.
-Do you dare to swim in the Guadalquivir?
-I'm used to all kinds of waters. I have swum in many, but any day I start training in the Guadalquivir. I have competed in worse waters.
-What have been the worst conditions?
-Against the current, first you fly and then it costs you a world. With extreme cold I have also competed, having hypothermia in my hands.
-From Sevilla or Betis?
-Betica. Years ago I had the card.
-What would you think of a Betis triathlon team?
-It would not be bad, it would be a beautiful experience, for any athlete. If I had it in front of me, perhaps I would ask Miguel Guillén.
-Are you more like Mourinho or Guardiola?
-De Guardiola.
-By?
-Because of his philosophy, his way of being. Mourinuo's way of being doesn't suit me at all, that of beating around ...
-A city?
-Seville, I am very Sevillian and Andalusian, but if I have to say others, Rio de Janeiro, Paris.
-By?
-I love.
-A country?
-Brazil, Australia, with those two I'm staying.
"A man other than yours?"
-Pedrosa, Marc Márquez. I like motorcycling, my brother raced motorcycles.
-A woman I admire?
-Well, I can not think of any now.
-A meal and a place to enjoy it.
-I like fried eggs with potatoes in my chalet.
-Is it more of desert islands or crowded cities?
-Depends on the moment, to relax deserted islands, but there are very interesting cities.
"Anything you want people to know about you?"
- Nothing, that I am a very happy person, very hard-working. Sport is a philosophy for me. I want to fulfill my dream, which is to live from my sport, to be an Olympian.
Source: eldesmarque.es
