Humaid Al Derei: Fighting for honour as well as the glory

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  • Humaid Al Derei is a man whose Olympic mission in London goes beyond winning and losing.

    The 21-year-old UAE judoka is a highly-competitive animal, of course, but he also buys into the sport he loves.

    Judo, he says, is all about honour. After early success regionally – he won silver at the Arab Games in Egypt in 2005 – Al Derei set his heart on a career in judo.

    Fuelled by a training camp in the Far East, his passion is obvious as explains his approach in the Judo Federation Hall in Abu Dhabi.

    “Judo taught me many things. After my camp in Japan, I got more attached to it as well,” he said. “I love it because it’s an Olympic sport, and the word Olympic for me doesn’t just mean that it’s featured in the Games.

    "It means it ensures the safety of the fighter which is why they prefer taekwondo to karate at the Olympics. They care about the safety and health of a competitor before they pay attention to results. Judo is about honour.”

    It’s this philosophy that makes it easy to understand why Al Derei’s idol is former Egyptian Olympic silver medallist and current international judo judge, Mohamed Rashwan – a man renowned for his take on fair play.

    Rashwan settled for second place in the Los Angeles 1984 Games because he refused to attack the injured right leg of his Japanese opponent, Yasuhiro Yamashita.

    “I tell you, with his style it was difficult for him to attack the other leg, but he still didn’t target the injured one,” said Al Derei, who can also speak Russian.

    “He lost that match and settled for the silver, but that day he gained the respect of the Japanese.

    “When they asked him why he didn’t attack the injured side he said ‘my religion, my morals and my country did not teach me to do something like that so I play with honour and win with honour’.

    “So for me, he is my idol and I hope to see more people like him.

    “Yes people remember winners and gold medallists, but look at [Diego] Maradona and Pele.

    “Pele is the one on a higher level because he had morals and values.”

    The Abu Dhabi native flew to Belarus for an intensive boot camp as part of his preparations and he admits it was tough.

    He said: “When I was in Belarus, I have to say I didn’t feel that my level was too far from the other judokas there. Perhaps their attacking skills are superior. And maybe that’s where I suffered the most in my first week of boot camp, but I worked on my recovering and my attack.

    “Like they always say ‘the best way to defend is to attack and that’s whay I worked hard on my attack in the past couple of months, and I’ve improved a lot.”

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