Dealing with defeat

Video of Rodrigo di Blazio's victorious campaign at the Rio International Pro, with commentary by him.

“You can't accept a bad performance, a bad day. If you lost, it goes through your mind that you are not capable, that you can't become a champion. But that has to go through and not come back.

"It's a very bad thing. Because the first thing you do when you step off the mat is to think that you could have had the opportunity to give a bit more of your stamina to be able to become champion.

"A loss has to serve as a lesson so that you can win in the future. The first thing you have to do is control all of that negative sentiment when you lose.

"And, if you have the opportunity to come back and prove that that which you did is not all you could have done, then do.

"Go, try again.

"Sign up for the absolute. Don't worry about the weight of your opponents, their technical level.

"You have to prove to yourself that you can do something better than what you did.

"It is this ability that the athlete has to never give up, to always be chasing their goal, that makes them a champion.

"And I went back to fight. I managed to win... to win. I won again, and managed to become champion. And you will manage to become a champion too. I'm sure that, if I could, you can too."

— Rodrigo di Blazio.