Matthias Casse (-81 kg) is not worried about the fact that the judokas, depending on their nationality, will have different preparation conditions before the Olympic Games in Tokyo, postponed to the summer of 2021. He said this by videoconference from Doha, where the Judo Masters will begin on Monday.World number one in his category, the Belgian has a goal for 2021: to reach the podium at the Olympics. Countries like Israel, which has a head start in coronavirus vaccination, or Russia, where judokas prepare in bubbles of 50, can train optimally. This does not worry Matthias Casse too much. “I’m not afraid of being less prepared when it comes to the Games. I focus on hard training and good camps in tournaments. I don’t mind the fate of others.” By the summer, Casse will play one tournament per month. After the Masters, where he will enter into action on Tuesday, he will be engaged in the Grand Slam tournaments in Tel Aviv (18-20 / 02), Tashkent (5-7 / 03) and Paris (8-9 / 05). He will also participate in the Lisbon Euro (16-18 / 04) and the Budapest Worlds (6-13 / 06). “The international training program is not yet defined,” said the 2019 vice-world champion. “The dates and places change every day, we will have to examine this carefully. I assume that I will have the best possible preparation to be able to win at least one medal in Tokyo. But as always, I’m going for gold. It would be fantastic to be able to follow in the footsteps of Robert Van de Walle, the only Belgian judoka to be Olympic champion. ” (Belga)
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