Victoria Sibille between frustration and hope after the Youth Olympics

Having left for Slovakia with the ambition of winning a medal there, the judoka from Namur did not however manage to climb on the box. And this, despite a good start against the local Martina Sekova.“Unfortunately, the next two fights were a little less good”recognizes the Meutoise who committed“too many small mistakes”to hope to go further in the competition.

Beaten successively by the Azeri Konul Aliyeva, unfortunate finalist, and the German Helen Habib, in bronze at the end of the day, Victoria Sibille missed the small final by nothing. “Looking back, I am especially disappointed not to have won my last duelloose Interist, 7th in the final standings.During this final fight, I received two silly penalties that put me in difficulty. Honestly, I think the victory came down to very little.”

“I learned a lot about myself”

Annoyed but not dejected, the future biology student at UCLouvain does not want to throw her first Olympic Games to the nettles. And for good reason, the event left him with good memories overall. “I learned a lot about myself, my judo and my level during this tournamentassures the one who won the La Roche-sur-Yon tournament in May.And then, these EYOFs were also an opportunity to be part of the Belgian delegation, to discover other athletes, to take part in the opening ceremony and to attend other competitions. In normal times, we rarely have the opportunity to mingle with other athletes. But there, in Slovakia, it was different: we felt that we were part of a larger family than that of the judokas.”

Determined to repeat the experience as soon as possible, Victoria Sibille intends above all to get back in the saddle on the Belgian scene. With, in the viewfinder, the title of national champion which had slipped through her fingers at the start of the year due to a knee injury.