Cape Verde’s first Olympic medalist, boxer David de Pina, has had to interrupt his preparation for Paris 2024 for two months to work on a construction site in Portugal, his coach told Lusa on Saturday.
“He worked for two months in construction to have money for his house, for his family, to be able to eat,” Bruno Carvalho said less than 24 hours after Pina reached the semifinals of the 51 kg men’s boxing tournament.
In boxing, both semi-finalists won a bronze medal, which, in the case of David de Pina, is the first medal in Cape Verdean history at the Olympic Games.
The boxer had already competed in Tokyo 2020 on a wild card, but managed to qualify directly for Paris 2024 “at the last world qualifier in Bangkok” after “dropping everything” to prepare with his coach in Odivelas.
The process involved “13 international flights” until “the money ran out.”
“He has an Olympic Solidarity scholarship of $750. [688 euros] per month, which is very little. He also has a family, a wife and two children. There was a moment when I said I had to stop to go to work,” explained the coach of the Privilégio de Odivelas boxing club, expressing himself: “It’s all very funny, but no one can stand anything until they get results. He made a brutal effort and was rewarded.”
Bruno Carvalho and David de Pina met when the Cape Verdean athlete received a wild card to Tokyo 2020 and completed an internship “at several clubs in Lisbon” to prepare for the challenge.
Along the way, he became “carried away” by the current coach’s methods and, as soon as he left for Tokyo, asked him to write a letter to obtain a visa to prepare for Paris 2024 in Portugal.
“He gave his whole life to Cape Verde and came to work for our club. It took three years of hard work, but it would not have been possible without his talent, which is enormous,” Bruno Carvalho emphasized.
However, the boxer’s concentration was never in doubt.
“I always said that I came here with the mission of getting a medal,” the coach added.
Since arriving in Lisbon, David de Pina’s evolution has also been noticeable, with his advanced work making him “an athlete with a versatile boxing style.”
“He lacked technique, specialization in the strategic part, tools to fight opponents of other styles. This was the culmination of three years of hard work, but it would not have been possible without his talent,” insisted Bruno Carvalho.
Moreover, the coach’s work was recognized by his students immediately after the victory over Zambian Patrick Chinyemba in the quarterfinals, and this triumph guaranteed at least bronze.
“He [Bruno Carvalho] “He’s the engineer of all my fights. I haven’t slept, I’ve been studying the game every night. I just do what he tells me,” David de Pina told The Associated Press moments after his quarterfinal triumph.
The compliment was given to Bruno Carvalho during a conversation with the Lusa agency: “I hope his life will change, because if anyone deserves it, it’s this boy. He’s the golden boy.”
Moreover, the coach’s conviction is based on the dedication of David de Pina, who, moments after “writing” a page in the history of Cape Verdean sports, had already “lost weight in the sauna” to ensure the weigh-in of the semi-final match.
“This is madness! Only an athlete with “higher” mental abilities can continue to lose weight without eating after a fight. This is madness! This madness is available to few,” the trainer rejoiced.
In the semi-finals, on Sunday, starting at 16:50 local time (15:50 Lisbon), David de Pina will face Uzbekistan’s Hasanboy Dumatov, none other than the reigning world champion and Rio 2016 gold medalist, but the strategy is planned to be “step by step” and “fight by fight”.
That’s why David de Pina and Bruno Carvalho do not rule out any scenario.
“We came here to win, and we will try to implement the best plan to achieve even more. We came here to win, and this is the goal: to win the next fight. Step by step,” the coach said.
David Pina won Cape Verde’s first ever Olympic medal on Friday, qualifying for the semi-finals of the 51kg boxing event at Paris 2024.
The 27-year-old from Santa Cruz qualified for the half division, which carries at least a bronze medal in the category, with a unanimous decision win over Zambian Patrick Chinyemba.
Cape Verde’s flag bearer at the Paris 2024 opening ceremony has already won a third medal for Portuguese-speaking Africa after two “metals” from Mozambican Maria Mutola, champion in the 800m in Sydney 2000 and bronze in Atlanta 1996.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Tifany Hawkins, a professional journalist with years of experience in news reporting. I currently work for a prominent news website and write articles for 24NewsReporters as an author. My primary focus is on economy-related stories, though I am also experienced in several other areas of journalism.