Sport Special

Editorial

Olympic celebration

Mozambique takes in its delegation a team of athletes who hope for the podium. As we close this edition, there is certainty about the qualification of sailors Deisy Nhanquile, Denise Parruque, Maria Machava; boxers Alcinda Panguana and Rady Gramane; judoka Kevin Loforte; the swimmers Domingas Munhemeze and Igor Mogne, and the canoeist Joaquim Lobo. But there are others still in the qualifying stage and we hope they can get there to make the Mozambican march sound even stronger.

Índico Magazine could not have a better opportunity to launch the new section in partnership with the Olympic Committee of Mozambique and Freestyle Talkz, a multimedia content production platform. We call it Sport Special and it wants to be a space for sharing the life stories of athletes who set for themselves daily challenges in the name of the wonders that make each morning worthwhile. In this edition, we outline the profile of Olympic boxers Alcinda Panguana and Rady Gramane, always looking at their friendship, which helped them reach the top 5 of the international ranking of the sport.

Alcinda Panguana and Rady Gramane

Two friends at the Olympic Games

Alcinda Panguana and Rady Gramane were not supposed to be boxers. The two were less supposed to be Southern African champions of the sport. An even less supposed that they took part in the world championship, and now that they are in the top 5 of the international ranking, that they were on their way to the Olympic Games. It wasn’t supposed to.

Nine years ago, Rady didn’t even know boxing existed in Mozambique and Alcinda didn’t like the idea of the violence associated with the sport. “I thought boxing was brawling and now I know that boxing is brawling” – Alcinda. It was fate – to use a boxing image – pushing them against the ropes. Rady just wanted to lose weight and Alcinda – as all friends should – was willing to help her. They ran daily in the certainty that their feet would tone Rady’s body. But Alcinda’s physical complexion caught the attention of Lucas Sinoia, the greatest reference in Mozambican boxing, who invited her to the Academy that has set his name in stone for all eternity. Alcinda was reluctant, Sinoia had to be insistent. And with on of those promises that randomly unlock everything, the coach said he was capable of making Rady slim in three months. “It was unbelievable” – Rady.

The two began training without ever thinking about stepping into a ring. “It was just for Rady to lose weight” – Alcinda. And she got thin. “I weighed 102 kg and today I weigh between 75 and 72 kg” – Rady. But in nine years, they’ve gone from amateur boxers to regional champions, continental finalists and world competitors. “It all happened very fast” – Rady.

The reaction of the two families was different. Rady’s thought that she, who already had a strong temper, would become even more violent, but time proved otherwise. “I even got calmer” – Rady. Alcinda’s accepted it relatively easily, but her mother still prefers not to watch the fights. “A mother is always more sensitive” – Alcinda.

Now, each in their category, Alcinda in the 69 kg and Rady in the 75 kg, are on their way to the Olympic Games, after qualifying with clenched fists in Dakar, Senegal. Under the direction of Lucas Sinoia, the same coach as always, they continue to train together, helping each other, pushing each other, influencing each other and this says a lot about their results being always similar. “I think it’s about being in tune to each other. But it could also be because I’m always the first to fight, so when I lose Rady thinks she can lose too and when I win she thinks she can win too. It’s psychological.” – Alcinda.

They will be at the Olympic Games focusing on one elimination at a time, aware that with the positions they occupy in the international ranking, they carry the country in their gloves. But they are already used to this pressure. “In boxing, you either face it or you quit” – Rady. And you can replace the word boxing with the word life.