On the eve of the Olympics, hope is at the rendezvous for judoka Arthur Margelidon, sixth in the world rankings in the under 73 kg. To earn his passport to Tokyo, the Montrealer must be in the top eight. He missed the Rio Games with an injury, but will 2021 be the year of his second chance?
“I do not want to sell the skin of the bear before having killed it”, laughs Arthur Margelidon, met last Friday in front of the National Institute of Sport of Quebec. The 27-year-old judoka, who grew up on the Plateau Mont-Royal, speaks with enthusiasm. Behind him, the Olympic rings shine.
Nicolas Gill, General Manager of Judo Canada, is satisfied with the athlete’s progress. “Despite a year turned upside down by the pandemic, Arthur found a way to maintain a good level. Maybe even perform better than before at times, ”says Gill, reached by phone. A silver medal at the Grand Slam in Tbilisi, Georgia, and a bronze medal at that of Antalya, Turkey, fill the record of the last months of Arthur Margelidon.
In combat, the judoka’s style is instinctive.
Even if he gets dominated, he seeks to project and succeeds in projecting. That’s really what sets him apart. The confidence he has in himself to project at all times makes him a very dangerous opponent.
Nicolas Gill, General Manager of Judo Canada
In 2021, the fight was not only on the carpet. The athlete contracted COVID-19 in April and had to undergo a quarantine in Turkey, where he was in for the Grand Slam. The month without training was a big blow to the athlete. He admits to having felt fatigue in the weeks after his contamination, but his form gradually returned. “I will be ready for Tokyo,” he assures us.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, PRESS ARCHIVES
Arthur Margelidon (left) faces German Anthony Zingg at the Montreal Judo Grand Prix in July 2019.
Arthur Margelidon still has no guarantee that he will represent Canada in July. The final tournament of the Olympic selection takes place from June 6 to 13 in Budapest, Hungary. But the Montreal judoka will not be on the tatami mats at these World Championships. A positive test for COVID-19 received on May 25 prevents him from going to defend his title and secure his place. However, he went for two more screening tests afterwards. “They were negative,” said the judoka, who assures to be delivered.
This absence from the Worlds risks taking him away from his dream. If Arthur Margelidon is downgraded from the first eight places at the end of the Budapest tournament, a play-off will be held between Antoine Bouchard, Canadian judoka in the 18e rank of the Olympic ranking, and him. The goal will be to determine who will travel to Tokyo.
I fought throughout my selection to be in the top 8. That’s why I’m disappointed not to do the World Championships. But the work has been done throughout the last three years of training. I don’t think it’s going to be played out in the last tournament.
Arthur Margelidon
Better prepared
In recent years, the Montreal judoka believes he has changed. “I listen to myself a lot more than before […] I believe it is good for the physical and the mental. Age has allowed me to gain that, ”he explains.
According to Nicolas Gill, the athlete is now more mature in his approach to fighting. “The last five years have given him a lot more consistency in his performances,” said the former Olympic medalist. In every tournament he does, he has a chance for a medal. ”
Trials, Arthur Margelidon has known in his career. On the verge of flying to the Rio Games in 2016, he saw his dream slip away before his eyes. Injured in training, he initially believed in a minor injury. But quickly, the verdict fell: broken wrist.
The athlete then found himself faced with a choice: give up after all the sacrifices or continue his career. He chose the second option. “And with a few years of hindsight, I think I made the right choice,” he laughs. The goal now is to get my Olympic medal. ”
