In conflict with her leaders on a question of sponsorship, the judoka, double Olympic champion and five-time world champion, believes that the members of the French authorities are more inclined to negotiate certain advantages in favor of the male star of the discipline. And she means to do it
“When it comes to a heavyweight in the men’s team, we negotiate and find an agreement.” Clarisse Agbegnenou’s words are scathing, sharp and demonstrate her determination.
Last February, during a competition in Tel Aviv, the “judogi-gate” broke out. Agbegnenou, double Olympic champion, five-time world champion, wanted to appear on the tatami with her combat kimono, stamped with the Mizuno brand, her personal sponsor.
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However, the French team is under contract with the Adidas brand. The authorities reacted, sanctioning the champion: she found herself deprived of her trainer, Ludovic Delacotte, for the time of the competition.
A decision that the native of Rennes had difficulty accepting. She still doesn’t accept it, by the way. Based, in particular, on this fact: on the male side, the champion Teddy Riner, he is now authorized to appear with combat outfits on which appears the brand “Fight Art”, his own sponsor.
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But previously, the Guadeloupean had already obtained authorization to display the “Under Armour” brand while the Federation was engaged with Mizuno (2017).
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Clarisse Agbegnenou is asking for fairness today: “I see that there is a difference in treatment between him and me, she says in an interview in the “weekend” pages of the Parisian – Today in France. Is it because I’m less scary than him? Because I’m a woman, I don’t have her build? But I, too, have needs and desires, and I, too, have a status. For my legitimacy to be recognized, I had to wait until I won five world crowns and an Olympic title.
