Open squad: Josias Lucena, João Stevenson, Horácio Cariello and Demétrius Oliveira
At 63, but fit as a kid, Josias Lucena went to the IPSC World Shoot in Greece with the certainty that he would fight for the title of his category. And indeed, until the last moment in the competition, he had chances of being the champ, finishing with an excellent second place in the Super Senior Open. The difference of only 1.18% for the champion, Canadian Michael Auger, let the Brazilian a bit down: “There were two mistakes in two easy courses.”
Despite this, Josias aims at forthcoming competitions. Physically fit, the athlete wants to compete in the Florida Open, to be held in February 2012 in the United States. If health allows, he also wants to face the next World Shoot in 2014, this time to get the title.
What is the feeling after winning the World vice-championship of your division and category?
The feeling is that I lost the championship by sheer lack of expertise. There were two mistakes in two easy courses where I should have kept the same focus on, but I wanted to speed up because I thought they were easy courses and that was my failure.
The difference between you and Canadian Michael Auger, who got the first place, was negligible, only 1.18%. What do you think that kept you from finishing in first?
As I said earlier, I lacked patience and expertise.
Josias Lucena got the silver medal at the 2011 World Shoot in Open Super Senior's category
How do you evaluate Michael Auger’s performance? Could you follow it during the competition?
I didn’t follow anybody’s performance during the competition. I try not to do it in order not to have my own performance somehow compromised.
How do you evaluate the level of difficulty of the courses and the competition in general, technically, physically and tactically, as well as climatic and environmental factors?
The weather did not interfere. It was just like in Brazil. The level in general was similar to other world championships I competed at. Only one course with moving targets, twenty-five feet away, was a bit more difficult to me for I had never trained that before. However, I managed to make it clean. From the physical point of view, for my age, I was well prepared and I did not feel tired.
After this World Cup, what are your aims and goals in Practical Shooting? Do you want to rest for a while or continue shooting? Do you think of participating in the next World Shoot in 2014?
I want to continue shooting but less intensely. I’ll go to the Florida Open, and if my health condition allows, participate in the next World Championship. I’ll be sixty-six years old and it makes a difference.
How do you evaluate the performance of Brazilian athletes in the World Shoot? Do you believe that a better result could have been achieved?
Definitely. I had no support and the results could have been much better if we’d had at least a HOD (head of delegation) and a technical advisor, as we see in other countries teams. That made a difference against our team.