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Judo: coach Alain Schmitt released from domestic violence against champion Margaux Pinot

Not enough evidence. The Bobigny Criminal Court on Tuesday released the coach and former member of the French judo team, Alain Schmitt, of domestic violence against Olympic champion Margaux Pinot.

“A court is never there to say who is telling the truth and who is lying. In this case we do not have enough evidence of guilt. The court releases you, ”declared the president of the court to Alain Schmitt late in the evening, after his immediate appearance.

The hearing was marked by contradictory versions. On the one hand, the coach gave the story of a fight that looked like a “tornado” between two lovers with a stormy relationship. On the other hand, Margaux Pinot described her “fear” in the face of the punches that rained down on her during the night from Saturday to Sunday in her apartment in Blanc-Mesnil (Seine-Saint-Denis). “It was not a judo fight, it was punches,” said Margaux Pinot, Olympic champion by mixed teams at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo, her face swollen by the bruises surrounding her eyes.

The prosecution had requested a one-year suspended sentence for “very serious violence, even for a first-time offender”. The court passed “next to a certain number of dependent elements”, such as the neighbors who heard her calls for help, and to whom she took refuge, regretted Me Stéphane Maugendre, the lawyer of the judokate.

“Psychological hold”

“I have never hit a woman in my life, it’s nonsense,” Alain Schmitt repeated to the audience, white T-shirt and face marked by bruises. “With the strength that this man has, he has the capacity to do much more harm than that”, pleaded Me Malik Behloul, adviser to Alain Schmitt, affirming that the sportswoman had lied on the whole line.

Margaux Pinot, also supported by representatives of the French Judo Federation, also spoke of a “psychological hold” on the part of a trainer for whom she had “admiration” but who constantly belittled her, causing her to lose. trust in her.

Alain Schmitt was to leave France five hours after the incident, heading to Israel where he is expected to take the reins of the women’s national team. Bronze medalist at the 2013 Worlds (-81 kg), he envisioned his departure for Israel as a “real change of life” after six years as a coach with the Etoile Sportive du Blanc-Mesnil where he coached athletes like Madeleine Malonga.

The individual record of Margaux Pinot, who fought in two categories (-63 and -70 kg), notably includes a world bronze medal in 2019, two titles of European champion (2019 and 2020) and two silver medals continental (2017, 2021).

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