Published on : 06/06/2021 – 07:42Modified : 06/06/2021 – 07:41
Budapest (AFP)
Only six weeks before the Olympic Games, the World Judo Championships begin Sunday in Budapest, without Teddy Riner but with a very high-level French women’s team led by three title holders, including Clarisse Agbegnenou in search of a fifth world coronation.
Even more perhaps than for the other fighters engaged in Budapest, Agbegnenou’s objective N.1 is located in Tokyo, where the most successful French judokate in history on the world stage (4 world titles and 5 Europeans) will try to win Olympic gold which is missing from its extraordinary record.
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But even curiously positioned in the immediate vicinity of the Olympic venue, even in the absence of several big names in the discipline, these Hungarian Worlds, which will compete in public at the Laszlo Papp Arena (up to 3,000 spectators allowed per day) , are not without stake.
“The main objective is the Games and we have integrated these + World + into the Olympic preparation. But when you arrive with a team, the idea is to slam as many medals as possible”, assured Larbi at a press conference. Benboudaoud, director of high performance and boss of the Blues.
This desire is illustrated by the presence in Budapest of five athletes who will double the Worlds and Olympic Games, two for the boys after Guillaume Chaine’s package announced on Saturday (Kilian Le Blouch in -66 kg and Alexandre Iddir in -100 kg) and three for the girls with Shirine Boukli in -48 kg, Madeleine Malonga in -78 kg and Agbegnenou in -63 kg.
Like Malonga and Agbegnenou, Marie-Eve Gahié (-70 kg) will defend her world title, even if the selection for Tokyo has escaped her in favor of Margaux Pinot in a category where the Blue occupies the first two places in the world.
– Djalo for the quota –
If they therefore respond to a logic of immediate performance, the individual objectives are all the same necessarily to be read according to the proximity of the Olympics. “For Shirine, the objective is the medal to enter the seeds in Tokyo”, explained Benboudaoud.
Arriving like a bullet on the international scene with a European title from her first participation in Prague last November, the young Gardoise (22) has a lot of appetite anyway.
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“The Worlds were not planned since the preparation was focused on the Olympics. So that’s not the primary objective but I’m going all the way. It’s like preparation, but with the will to win a title “, she assured.
“And for Clarisse, Marie-Eve and + Mado +, the objective is to keep the red bib,” then detailed Benboudaoud, referring to the privilege reserved for the reigning world champions.
“I got a taste for this red bib, I don’t want to let go!” Malonga confirmed at a press conference. “There is the primary objective, which is of course Tokyo. But when I go to compete it is to win. I take that as a challenge,” added the one who will also aim for gold in Tokyo.
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The male delegation has more modest ambitions, especially in the absence of Axel Clerget, 3rd at the last World Championships in 2019 in Tokyo, and of course Teddy Riner, whose entire season is focused on the immense challenge of ‘a third unprecedented heavyweight Olympic title.
“For some boys, the goal is to grab a first world medal or to progress to the + ranking +. Alpha Djalo for his part is looking for Olympic qualification”, summarized Benboudaoud. France does not yet have a quota in the -81 kg category and a good Hungarian performance could open the door to the Games in Djalo at the last minute.
© 2021 AFP
