2010 European Championship: Brazilian team

From today on, we are starting here on the Guga Ribas website a new series of articles in which we will be recalling competitions which somehow marked my career, as well as other Brazilian athletes’, over all of the years in which I have been in the Practical Shooting world. I will always try to bring some new, curious or simply funny stories as well as the ones which were educational to me in past championships.

In the first article of this series I recall the 2010 European Championship, held in Belgrade, Serbia, on September 12^th to 18^th that year. Besides winning the title, which was very important in my career, I tell something that few know, except for those who were there and those who closely follow me in competitions in Brazil.

First, let’s talk about the Championship itself. The 2010 European Championship was the “beginning” of the last period of preparation for the World Shoot in the following year. There was only one year to the greatest competition in the IPSC circuit and it was the moment in which the top IPSC names that would be in Greece, not to mention Americans and Filipinos, would go up against each other in a preview of what the fight for the title in 2011 would be.

I was fortunate to win that championship, in a fierce dispute with the Czech Zdenek Henes, who would come to be the world champion in 2011, as well as with the Italian Davide Cerrato, who had an excellent match at the European.

It was a very technical competition, in which all of the fundamentals were tested. It was undoubtedly the best championship I have ever taken part in. The stages were really beautiful, well-made and very intelligent, allowing shooters to develop several strategies in most of the tracks. Besides, everything was well organized. We had great service to athletes, easy transportation to the range, the meals were delicious and the clinic was very well equipped and prepared to meet any emergency.

The Accident

Guga receives treatment after the accident

For the first time, I talk publicly about the accident that happened to me two days before the competition started. On Saturday, during a training session, I accidentally shoot my own thigh and toe, which caused me a serious injury, putting at risk my participation in that tournament.

In fact, the shooting resulted from a sequence of errors. Still in Brazil, my gun’s hammer began to fall during a workout. My gunsmith didn’t have enough time to check the equipment and I decided to repair it myself. That was my first mistake because I should not have touched it. Despite having good technical knowledge, it is just enough to help my gunsmith. However, I fixed the gun myself, and it seemed to be good. I traveled to compete in the European championship with the gun that way.

Already in Serbia, during a training session, there was the first accidental shot when I removed the charger of my gun. It’s always a scary situation, but the shot went towards a safe direction. I did some more testing with the gun and I didn’t notice anything wrong with it. Instead of dismantling the equipment and seeing if there was a problem, I assumed I had put my finger on the trigger. That was my second mistake, because even though I had already had accidental shots, they had never happened while I was loading the gun.

I kept on training and made the third mistake. As the drill I was doing was very repetitive, I got careless and locked the trigger – the lock was harder than usual – already moving the gun to put it in the holster. That was when there was another accidental shot. This time, I was hit by the bullet, which tore my thigh and went through the second toe of my foot.

Accidental shot hit Guga's thigh and a toe of his right foot

Luckily, the firing range where the championship was going to be held belonged to a Serbian anti-terrorist squad. The doctors and the local ward were very well prepared to meet this type of accident. I was assisted by the doctors, I took the medicine and vaccines needed and got back to the range. The accident had happened at about 9am and at 4pm, after fulfilling all health and legal procedures required by doctors and the police, I was back and ready to train.

This time, I thoroughly tested the equipment until I found the problem. And after three more accidental shots – all towards safe directions – I finally figured out what the problem was and solved it. However, in my mind, I was already out of the race for the European title because I was having problems to move and my broken toe hurt a lot. In addition, the toe had also been bleeding profusely throughout the day and I had to redo the bandages daily.

I was evaluated by Dino Evangelinus, president of IROA, who asked the Brazilian regional director for permission so that I could run for the championship. I was allowed to compete, which was quite surprising to the athletes who were there. However, I have my motor racing background knowledge and expertise, which sometimes required me to compete injured after an accident. I always used to be at my limit and that was a somewhat common situation for me.

Results and lessons

Guga celebrates the 2010 European Championship victory

In a way, the accident took from me quite a lot of the pressure of the championship, because I was not aiming at being the champion anymore. I just wanted to compete. Luckily, the stages which required position transition allowed me to develop strategies in order not to waste much time. That was crucial, especially in the first two days, when my foot still hurt a lot.

After the first day I had a big surprise: I was in the first place. This generated some awe in other athletes, which was again positive for me. That’s because I was shooting without any pressure on me and the fact that I was in first, hurt, put a huge “burden” on the other competitors’ shoulders. On the second day, I kept myself in first but always with a very small difference to the second place. That kept on going until the fourth and last day, when I was ahead of Zdenek by a very small percentage.

Against all odds, my injury actually helped rather than hindered me. It was an asset in that championship. Due to my expertise in motor racing, I managed to develop the ability of inhibiting pain during competitions. All in all, it hindered me just a little, except for some longer stages.

Undoubtedly, winning a European Championship, especially that one with that level of competitiveness, was something incredible. I got really happy and I have great memories of the championship and of the city of Belgrade which is beautiful and has very cheerful and welcoming people.

I believe that the big lesson learnt is the one about the matter of safety. The accident and the danger to which I was exposed were created by myself, my being careless towards safety rules and handling equipment. I come here to tell you this story and hope that other athletes, from the newest to the most experienced ones such as myself, can take a lesson from it and always be careful towards safety matters in our sport.

All the best and see you later,

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