Roberta Chyurlia, for judo there is an Italian referee at the Olympics

In Tokyo she will be there. While waiting to discover all the athletes who will participate in the fifty-fifth edition of the Games, Italy is already putting the seal on a place in Japan. In fact, he will certainly be there to represent our country Judo referee Roberta Chyurlia. The 41-year-old from Puglia, already the best European referee in 2017 and 2018, received the news directly from the president of the IJF Domenico Falcone who expressed great satisfaction for this recognition that rewards not only Roberta, but the whole Italian movement.

Roberta Chyurlia is a daughter of art. His father Pasquale was also an internationally renowned referee and one of only five Italians to direct matches at the Olympics (Sidney 2000 and Athena 2004). «I am very happy for you – said father Pasquale – it is yet another personal milestone achieved as demonstrated. Me, Erminia and Riccardo are proud to have been by your side in hard times: you have faced numerous obstacles and difficulties on the long road to Tokyo ».

To get to Tokyo, Roberta had to face several difficulties. Now that the finish line has been crossed, the joy of having made it is immense. «It is news that gives me great happiness. At last I can reciprocate, even if in a small way, all the efforts made by my family to help me fulfill my dream of going to the Olympics. This year has been really difficult for everyone, if I think about 10 February 2020 and the happiness after having refereed the 73 kg final at the Grand Slam in Düsseldorf…. Only shortly after would the list of Olympic referees be made public, then the pandemic arrived that froze everything ».

Precisely because of Covid-19, Roberta risked having to postpone this experience. “I learned firsthand that there is no certainty of tomorrow and that you have to live every moment, so to those who say” let’s hope the Games “I answer that today I enjoy this selection and I rejoice to be among the best sixteen referees in the world».

But in Roberta’s life there is not only judo. Outside the tatami, in fact, it is acriminal lawyer which exercises in Taranto. A profession he loves a lot. «I am called to defend one party against another – he says – but I focus first on the case, evaluating all the documentation and the facts as a whole. So it’s a bit like in judo: even in my work there are two positions on which I have to focus my analytical skills. So I try to keep a certain distance from the case and the parties.