In December 2004, in the last round of the Champions League home stage, Liverpool went down halfway with a 1-0 deficit against Olympiacos at Anfield. The whole group got into a problematic situation. She knew that in order to advance to the quarterfinals she would have to respond with three goals in the second half and defeat this opponent 1: 3, in order to settle the balance between the teams that would be in her favor. The first came in, the second came in, and the last few minutes were tense. Then Steven Gerrard arrived and made it 3-1 with a tremendous long-range kick to goal. In the 86th minute, right at the last minute.
In February 2021, in the last competition for the Israeli criterion in judo, Gili Cohen was behind in the Olympic rankings compared to Geffen Primo. She was with her back to the wall. She knew that in order to get a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics she would have to reach at least the semi-finals of the Tel Aviv Grand Slam and hope for her teammate to stumble, to make a change in the rankings and pass her in the weight category up to 52 kg. A fight, but the last fights were tense. In the quarterfinals she got into a gold score and tense minutes, but qualified for the semi-finals, right at the last minute. “I kept thinking about Steven Gerrard,” said Gili Cohen.
The 29-year-old judoka will appear for the second time at the Olympic Games, after a dramatic change in the world rankings and the achievement of the Israeli criteria. All this, despite a serious injury sustained in the midst of the Olympic campaign for Tokyo with a tear in the cruciate ligament in his knee. A week later, the judoka recreates what happened and looks forward to the coming summer, which she will spend in Japan. Against all odds.
Achieve the impossible
“I was injured in February 2018 in the cruciate ligament. I returned, and I was injured again in May 2019 in the cruciate ligament in the other leg,” she said. Gili Cohen. “The second time it happened when I was in competition in China, right at the height of the campaign. There was a mess in China and we could not do an MRI there, so I did the country test after I came back from there. All the way I tried to think positive, “It hurt physically and because I went through it once, so I knew what recovery procedure awaited me.”
Cohen decided not to undergo surgery, just as she had done the previous time. “I did not have surgery because I knew I would not have enough time to come back. I was in May, I knew I had a year to close the criterion before the Tokyo Olympics, so I did not want to go into surgery that would disable me for a longer period. In surgery an implant is inserted and must be maintained. “And all this according to clear protocols. It takes longer than normal recovery.”
Cohen spent about six months in rehabilitation to congratulate after this injury. “The team’s physiotherapist, Bernardo Barkan, accompanied me throughout the rehabilitation process. From start to finish, he gave his heart and soul for it to succeed. Together with him we built a rehabilitation program with precise details of what needs to be done for it to succeed. It was clear to me that this conservative treatment opened “For problems, but if you do it right, then it saves time. I still wanted to stay in business.”
For eight weeks she was with a brace for fixation of the knee. At first she could not move her knee at all, so she worked on her upper body. She opened the mornings in the pool, then came to the gym to strengthen the muscles around her knee, did workouts just to keep fit like pedaling a bike to her hands, then progressed and switched to a regular bike – and everything was in slow, controlled progress, while she was eager to return. It’s nerve-wracking, but Gili is an intelligent athlete who works first and foremost with her head. Meanwhile, she completed a bachelor’s degree in humanities and social sciences at the Open University and began studying for a master’s degree at Bar Ilan University in a multidisciplinary track of science, technology and society.
“I was busy during rehabilitation. My day was full of activity and I didn’t really have a rest,” she recalls. “When I’m busy then it’s much easier because the day is filled with doing, but still, sitting on the sidelines and watching my girlfriends fly to competitions abroad and practice judo as usual it sucks. Anyone who has not been through this does not know what it feels like. Not only does this injury have bad public relations, it is a very serious injury and it strikes for a long time, as in the case of Virgil Van Dyke, but despite everything it is an injury that can be returned from, return to activity and return to the previous performance. It was long, it was difficult, it required regular maintenance all the time – but I did not think I would end my career because of it. “
During this time, the young Geffen Primo began to open a significant gap from her in the Olympic rankings in their weight category. “I got into a routine of work and rehabilitation, so I was busy and felt I was progressing and doing things, but for me what was hardest was the feeling that I was pressed for time, because I was really pressed for time. There is an international criterion and an Israeli criterion. .
Gili Cohen’s return was towards the end of 2019. “Even when I returned, I was not one hundred percent capable, physically and mentally. Certainly not for the fight for a ticket to Tokyo,” the veteran judoka noted. “I was under a lot of pressure. Consciously? I was not afraid of the injury, but when there is physical trauma in the knee then of course there is also trauma in the human psyche. As time went on, I realized that just as the knee healed so can the psyche. I knew the criterion closed in February 2020 and I knew it would be difficult, but “I felt I needed to go back for myself and do everything possible to narrow the gap in the grabs in the rankings. Athletes are always looking to get things done, even if they seem like something impossible. So I decided not to give up, to go all the way.”
Immediately after the end of the Israeli criteria, Gili Cohen finished the race in 15th place in the Olympic rankings and Geffen Primo was in 8th place. The veteran judoka has already come to terms with not competing in Tokyo in the summer of 2020. “I had no regrets. I did, I competed and hoped. And that’s it, it’s over,” Cohen concluded.
But after exactly one month, strange news arrived from around the globe. The corona plague broke out. The panic in the world, the halting of sports and flying competitions, the great economic crisis and the fear of rising morbidity – all these led to the postponement of the Olympic Games this year by a dramatic decision of the Olympic Committee. And suddenly the struggle for the criterion reopens. “For many people, the corona did not go well, but for me it allowed me more time and more opportunity to reduce gaps,” said Cohen, who returned to the race for a ticket to Japan.
“I was not traumatized by the rejection because in my head the story of the Tokyo Olympics was already closed. Indeed, there was great uncertainty all around, but I continued to train like all my other teammates. “I was waiting for the competitions, I wanted it to happen. The World Federation made a special outline and everything went back to normal, despite the restrictions, so I saw that it was possible.”
The comeback
The end is known. Precisely in the last competition, against all odds, Gili Cohen saw how Geffen Primo lost her first battle at the Tel Aviv Grand Slam, while she finished with the silver medal around her neck and the ticket to Tokyo in her pocket. “This year has taught us that this whole world can be turned upside down in an instant. To get to the Olympics because they were postponed? Who thought of that? This class brings with it something different, certainly after everything I went through along the way.”
Immediately after the competition in Tel Aviv, Gili Cohen returned to the bubble at the hotel, went in to take a shower, got dressed and sent a message to Geffen Primo, her rival in the race for the ticket and her teammate, with all the difficulty involved. “I sent her a message, we met at the hotel and hugged. Then we talked and it was a very accommodating and respectful conversation, and I appreciate it because it’s not a simple situation. It shows Geffen’s strength and greatness. She’s a great athlete and teammate, but that’s the way it is in sports.” .
In those moments, Gili of course understood what Geffen was feeling. She had only been in her place one year before. In judo in particular it is the most obvious – there is a winner, there is a loser. It sucks to be on the losing side, and who like me knows that I was already there and felt it, but I am sure she will not give up and fight again because no one knows what will happen tomorrow. You always have to be prepared for any scenario and not give up. The fact that I continued in my most difficult moments, when everything was already lost and closed, is what brought me the victory. Even in the middle of the Tel Aviv Grand Slam, when I reached the semifinals and already knew I would be in Tokyo, it was important to me “To go all the way and finish with a medal. I wanted to get there because I won, not because I gave up and gave up when the result was already known. I’m not like that.”
After this competition, the token fell. “I imagined this moment for a long time, and when it happened I suddenly realized it was a cold reward. I am in Tel Aviv, in a home competition, in the bubble of competition, and I had fun sharing it with teammates and family. It was a special moment for me to achieve both the criterion and the The medal. “
Next chapter
Now, Gili Cohen will go to the Olympics for the second time in her career, after a big disappointment in her first appearance in the class four and a half years ago. “At the Rio Olympics I lost my first fight, and it still hurts me and sits in my head. Since then, I kept telling myself I must get there again and make my correction. I have a lot of faith and optimism, I go to Tokyo to go through battle after battle, not to think “At the end, but only about what is happening at that moment. In this life, I have already learned that it is impossible to commit to more than that.”
From the moment she was injured until the criterion was achieved, all the way through, Gili Cohen thought of Steven Gerrard and her ultimate goal, to achieve the last-minute makeover. “What a winner he is, God. How he came up against Olympiacos and gave a winner’s goal. I said to myself, this is how I want to be. It may be a cliché, but it was clear to me in the process that I was part of a team and not going to win alone. Coach Shani Hershko, professional team with “Physiotherapist Bernardo Barkan, my teammates and Michal Feinblatt from my association were all there to help and support me. For me, they were an integral part of this victory.”
And yes, like Steven Gerrard’s goal in the final minutes, so too has Gili Cohen won the criterion for the Tokyo Olympics at the last minute – despite everything. In the case of Liverpool, since that victory, that season it has raced all the way to the Champions League final in Istanbul, where it has won the European Champions Cup after a huge drama. Does this hint at what will happen in Tokyo? It already belongs in the next chapter.