Daniel SOBREPENA: "I have a team I can rely on"

US National Team athlete Daniel Sobrepena won the gold medal at the Pan American SAMBO Championships in Brazil. At the competition held in the city of Cuiaba, he had no equal in the weight category up to 79 kg in Sport SAMBO. In an interview for the FIAS website, Daniel spoke about his unexpected call-up to the national team, spontaneous victories using painful holds and supporting from the team no matter what.

Daniel, could you share your impressions that you experienced immediately after the final?

– The final bout was difficult, the gold medal did not come easy for me. In addition, this is my first Pan American SAMBO Championships, and I am happy that I managed to do well.

How long have you been in SAMBO?

– I have been doing SAMBO for about five years. It is interesting that at the US national championships I usually took second or third places, although I always aimed for the "gold". That is why I was extremely surprised when 3 weeks before the start of the continental tournament I received a call from the national SAMBO federation and was offered to represent the USA at the Pan American Championships. I gladly accepted this offer and was determined to prove myself, make a name for myself and gain respect.

On the way to the final, you often achieved victory thanks to painful holds. Do you like wrestling on the ground?

– To be honest, in most cases it happened spontaneously. I did not go into the bout planning that I needed to make a painful hold on my opponent. It just happened that way. For example, in the first match, my opponent and I ended up on the ground, after which the coach told me to attack the arm and twist it as hard as possible. I did so and won. In the second bout, the situation developed according to a similar scenario. I can say that I really like doing painful holds, perhaps it can be called my favorite technique. But I do not practice them as often as I should.

The athletes on Team USA cheered each other on throughout the competition, oftentimes even shouting down the other teams’ fans. How much does that help you win?

– Of course it does! I really believe that everyone on my team supports me and cares about me, if win or lose. The guys just want to see me get better, and that really inspires me. It makes my heart feel one with the guys, knowing that I have a team I can count on, whether I make them proud or we have to go back to square one to try again next year.

Do you have any plans to celebrate your win?

– Um, funny story… I prayed a lot before the competition about winning, and I promised myself that if I won first, I wouldn’t hang out or have fun. I’d just go to my room, rest, eat, and go to bed. That’s the whole story.

What about future plans related to SAMBO?

– I found myself in a very ironic situation. After not the most brilliant performances at national competitions, I planned not to do SAMBO for a very long time. And suddenly I got a call from the federation and was invited to the Pan American Championships.

I thought: “Okay, you can represent the US team? Then do it!” And I thought: “This is the last, final chord”. But then, when I started training more and more, I realized how much I love SAMBO. And I said: “Why should I stop doing this?” At some point, I wanted to focus only on judo, but then I thought: “No, I love SAMBO too much to just quit like that”.

Before this tournament, I decided for myself: it doesn’t matter whether I take the last place or the first, one thing is for sure – I will continue to do SAMBO. And no matter what happens here, next Monday morning I will be at training. Now with a long-awaited gold medal.