Margarita Ochoa delivered the Philippines second gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games on Thursday, beating the reigning under-21 world champion in the 48-kilogram division of women’s jujitsu.
Ochoa won by advantage over Balqees Abdulla of the United Arab Emirates, who the Filipina kept mostly pinned to the mat during 5-minute championship match.
In an interview with OneSport after her golden performance, Ochoa was crying as she recalled the struggles and injuries she had gone through on the way to the gold medal match.
“This is overwhelming. A lot has happened in this journey; a lot has happened,” said Ochoa, who has won world championships in the past.
“I was suffering from flu-like symptoms yesterday (Wednesday). I didn’t think I could compete any longer. Today, I had to take a lot of medicines just to compete,” said Ochoa in between sobs. “Then, I pulled my hip in the semis..it was painful. I just told myself I’ll give it all even if I can no longer walk. I’ll just give my best.”
Asked what makes this Asiad victory different from her other triumphs, Ochoa said: “This is different. This is the Asian Games. This is very important for the country. So, this is very big thing that I did this, first for the Lord. The Lord has humbled me by allowing me to experience adversity so that I will depend on him…almost the whole time I was just praying. This is for Him and the people He allowed to help me get to this point.”
The 33-year-old jujitsu fighter escaped Abdulla’s submission attempt via a triangle choke, and maintained her dominance until the buzzer sounded.
Abdulla, only 19, is ranked world number one U21 jujitsu fighters in the 48-kg class and just won in August the world championship in Kazakhstan.
Ochoa, who through her career had won several medals in the Southeast Asian Games, added to the gold meda earlier won by pole vaulter EJ Obiena.
On her march to the finals, Ochoa defeated jujitsu martial artists from Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and Thailand.
