After Maryse Éwanjé-Épée, Stephen Brun, Jérôme Rothen and Marc Madiot, David Douillet opened his Souvenir box on RMC. The two-time Olympic judo champion (1996, 2000) and former Minister of Sports spoke about his childhood, his personal life and his athletic career. Extracts.
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When her grandmother was the only one who believed in her judoka career
In high school in Neufchâtel-en-Bray, David Douillet must announce to his grandmother and the guidance counselor that he is going to Rennes to launch his sports career. “My grandmother is summoned and the guidance counselor tells her that it is not good at all for me to go to sports studies (…) and that judo does not feed anyone. It was obviously not good. not athletic. But he was very charming and above all very frank and direct. My grandmother listened to him religiously and only said one sentence after his arguments: “My grandson will do what he wants. If he decided to go to sports studies and decided that it was good for him, we will do that. “Point, that nailed him. She got up and we left.” .
???? “The education counselor thought he convinced her. My grandmother said, ‘My grandson will do whatever he wants’. We got up and left.”
David Douillet recounts his childhood and this anecdote when choosing his orientation.
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— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) December 30, 2020
The death of his friend Thierry
In March 1993, his young judoka friend Thierry Harismendy died in a traffic accident in Japan. David Douillet was with him at the time of the tragedy: “On Saturday evening, we had a restaurant. Quietly. When we got back, on foot, Thierry crosses a street. In Japan, we drive on the left, a car does not see him. … He is in the dark, the car arrives quite quickly and hits him. He dies in my arms, on the sidewalk. He was 24 years old. It was a great hope, with a great family. And then it stops. like that, all at once. It’s very special and very hard. “
???? “We were leaving the restaurant, Thierry crosses a street … In Japan we drive on the left … there you go. A car does not see him, it arrives quite quickly. And it stops like that, all of a sudden “.
David Douillet recounts the death of his friend Thierry Harismendy.
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— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) December 30, 2020
His first gold medal … was not the right one
In 1996, in Atlanta, David Douillet won in the final against the Spaniard Ernesto Perez Lobo. He wins the fight with an uchi-mata. Anton Geesink, Olympic champion in 1964, presented him with his medal. Except that it is not the right one, as the Frenchman tells it: “I do not realize it. But I am given the medal of the heavy women. I learn from the international federation that they were wrong, but they’ll give it back to me at the world championships next year. So I got my medal a year later! “
