Mattia Galbiati is a 33 years old Italian SAMBO champion and police officer from Inverigo. His journey in with the martial art begun in 2013. Being a police officer in this time means a lot of patrols and emergency calls but Mattia still gets to train and to hope for some SAMBO events in near future.
The Italian gave interview to sambo.sport.
– Mattia, when the COVID-19 break happened, what were your first thoughts?
– I wasn’t afraid of the virus, I am still not. Of course, I know we must be brave and responsible but as well as I know we will overcome it and get stronger than before. You know, the history testifies that Italians always overcome the tough times, and as you know we had a lot of those.
– Did you get any chance to train since it all started? How do you deal with that?
– Yes, and I train very hard. So, luckily my teammate Alessio, who is also a sambist, gave me an excellent weightlifting program and with that I also work on my athletic preparation as well. I am one of those who are lucky enough to live in a house with a garage and also a garden, so I have space for my trainings.
– What is your favorite result or a moment on sambo competition?
– I won a couple of big medals such as medal on European championship, European and World cups, but my favorite one is the one I won at the International tournament A in Minsk 2018. What made that bronze medal special is that just before I left to Belarus, I have promised my daughter Sofia I will win for her. Her smile and face when I brought that medal back home is priceless to me.
– What is the SOMETHING that SAMBO competition gave you and kept you coming back?
– For me, SAMBO is the best sport I have ever practiced! Like I have already said, yes I fought in judo for a long time, I even tried and had a good run in MMA career as well, but SAMBO has something special. I feel there rules a real respect among us, sambists. Even when we fight hard, we are friends outside the mat. I would say SAMBO is life.
If you are interested in what Mattia has to say about his days in quarantine and life as a police officer and sambist, just watch the video.
Source: FIAS
