NOS Sports•today, 3:18 PM
Judoka Kim Polling wants to compete for Italy in the future. The Dutch Judo Association (JBN) reports that it is cooperating in an accelerated change of nationality for the four-time European champion in the class up to 70 kilograms.
33-year-old Polling has lived in Italy since 2017, where she has built a life with her husband and daughter. The JBN reports that Polling, who submitted the request to the judo association on March 29, will now have the opportunity to be included in the top sports selection of the Italian police and defense.
Olympics
It is also expected that Polling will be able to participate in the Olympic Games in Paris in this capacity next summer. She has one Olympic participation to her name in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, where she was eliminated in the eighth finals.
For the 2021 Games in Tokyo, she lost the competition with Sanne van Dijke and Van Dijke also has the better credentials for Paris to win the only starting ticket for the Netherlands in the class up to 70 kilograms.
“With this selection she could be part of the Italian judo team, but the financial future of her family is also assured after her active top sports career,” the judo association wrote in a statement.
Polling briefly commented on her decision on X:
The judo association says that Polling will immediately leave the JBN national program and that she will no longer be sent to international tournaments on behalf of the Netherlands.
Irreversible
Polling is also no longer entitled to support from the JBN and its A status with sports association NOC*NSF is no longer valid. “This decision is irreversible,” the JBN said in a statement.
“Before Kim could finally play for Italy, there are still several steps to be taken, over which the JBN has no influence.”
Polling responded to her decision via Instagram. “If I had been able to look into a crystal ball during the New Year’s Eve and see that three months later I would be saying goodbye to the Dutch judo team, I would have been surprised,” she writes.
“I am extremely grateful to the Judo Association Netherlands for giving me this opportunity. So I say goodbye to the JBN and TeamNL. It is an abrupt end, but from my side I could not have wished for a more beautiful and respectful farewell. “
