Arthur Jacques, Intria: I was able to find out from your national coach, Thomas Delac, what your evening and first night in the village was like after winning the medal. Were these great feelings really flowing through you?
Julia Zeremeta, featherweight boxer. – Yes, great feelings. Sometimes I was happy, sometimes a little sad after losing the battle in the final, but my feelings are slowly starting to calm down. At the moment, I am happy with the result, I have forgotten about this battle and am concentrating on what is here and now. I am very happy that I had the honor of carrying the flag at the end of the Games (we spoke on Sunday shortly before the ceremony – note).
It was actually a sleepless night because I cried a lot?
– A little crying, a little joy. I’ve just been having different mood swings. I’ve already slept for two hours, but that’s okay.
Was there one message, one phone call, one text message that woke you up and helped you understand that there was no reason to despair, because you had achieved extraordinary success?
– Honestly, I haven’t responded to almost anyone yet. There are so many, all these messages. In general, I’m very happy that this is how I am perceived and what happened here. I feel very happy.
In the Olympic Village, when the Games had just started and your competition hadn’t started yet, you told me about your journey. The stubbornness and the fact that you were a player who at one point believed that if you didn’t put in the effort in training, you would outdo the coach. Only later did you realize that you were doing yourself the greatest harm by doing so. At one point, the coach put your cooperation on a knife’s edge?
– Yes, but I also knew that it was the year of the Olympics and that it was worth the sacrifice. It became clear to me that the Olympics were my dream, just like the dream of all the employees, so I had to pull myself together. In addition, we had conversations with the coach, which really motivated me to do it. First and foremost, it’s about hard work.
Indeed, coach Tomasz Delak put it bluntly: “Either you change or we are finished”?
– A little, yes (smiles). To be honest, the coach sometimes likes to shake me hard.
He says you are a very emotional person. But we also had the opportunity to see the other side of your coach and he can show emotions too.
Experts, including Krzysztof Kosidowski, and your coach is also aware of this, point out that the challenge now will be to protect yourself from so-called inspections that could have a negative impact on your career development. Are you also afraid that suddenly being in the spotlight will put you at risk?
– There will definitely be some situations like that, but I have a great coaching staff that will take care of me. They will definitely not let any harm come to me.
Have you already figured out what reward you will give yourself?
– Of course I would like to rest now, that is the most important thing to me.
– So when and where can we have that coffee?
In this case, we will find out off-record.
– Well, thank you very much.
Interview conducted by Arthur Jacques, Paris
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