Published on : 15/05/2023 – 16:36Modified : 15/05/2023 – 16:37
Seven months after disappointing worlds, the French judo team bounced back in Doha with seven individual medals – including two gold by the ghosts Teddy Riner and Clarisse Agbégnénou – as well as silver in the mixed team tournament on Sunday. Only Japan does better. A more than encouraging record for the 2024 Olympics.
“We are united for a common goal: ten medals at the Olympic Games in Paris.” At the conclusion of the Doha World Championships, Stéphane Nomis, the President of the French Judo Federation, was not afraid to announce ambitious objectives for the 2024 Olympic Games : he wants to see the tricolor judokas win two thirds of the 15 medals in the discipline and if possible with a maximum of gold.
The beautiful French harvest in Qatar gives the president reason to be optimistic: two gold medals, three silver and two bronze, the best total since 2014 for the tricolor delegation. Only the country of judo, Japan, does better.
It is moreover the latter who deprived The french team of a coronation in the mixed team event in a cruel scenario. While leading three sets to one, the Blues were up three to three and had to bow in the decisive fight after an endless golden score and a controversial decision against Margaux Pinot.
>> To read also: Tokyo 2021: how France became the other judo country
No matter: “We are on time” for the Paris Games, said Bastien Puget, the Deputy National Technical Director of the Blues.
France has been able to bounce back after the more than disappointing 2022 championships in Tashkent. At the time, French judokas had won only one gold medal, three bronze and signed a sad zero point in men, raising fears of a crisis for “the other country of judo”.
Riner and Agbégnénou at the rendezvous
A crisis finally quickly curbed, in particular thanks to the return of the two figureheads of French judo. Teddy Riner (+100 kg) and Clarisse Agbégnénou (-63 kg) signed their comeback on the world stage, after six years of absence for Riner and maternity leave for Agbégnénou.
The two leaders were impressive, winning a sixth and eleventh world title respectively. “They were simply immense, both tactically, physically and in terms of judo, it was extraordinary”, welcomed Bastien Puget.
“It’s not a surprise,” said Baptiste Leroy, the boss of the men’s team. “Clarisse and Teddy have been the leaders of the France team for more than ten years. What is reassuring is that in a year, they will be there, they will be in good shape.”
They will be there in particular to support the French team for the team tournament while in Doha the federation had exempted them. From this observation, the silver medal against Japan is all the more beautiful.
The men reassure themselves
After the disappointment of Tashkent, the Blues this time won two medals with the bronze of Walide Khyar (-66 kg) in addition to the gold of Teddy Riner.
“Compared to the delegation that was in Tashkent, it’s easy to gargle with the title of Teddy, but he is part of the team,” said Baptiste Leroy. “We still have a medal and not the least in the -66 kg category where there is (the Japanese) Hifumi Abe et Joshiro Maruyama.”
“We have reserve”, he assured, pointing to the good dynamics of the non-medalists of the day : “Alpha Djalo (-81 kg) won four medals in a row in tournaments, he is not very far. Luka Mkheidze (-60 kg) is an Olympic medalist so other athletes arrived at this championship with enough to defend their chances. It was not necessarily expressed there but it is encouraging for Paris.”
Five women’s titles but no gold
As at the Tokyo Olympics, the women of the French team went for a title, three silver medals and a bronze. : “It lacks gold !”, noted the boss of the Blue, Christophe Massina.
The women’s team will come to the Paris Games in a year with “really very big” ambitions, he continued. “We are moving forward. What I like is the state of mind, it is this courage, this determination and this desire to fight at every moment.”
If the balance of the number of medals is the same as in Tokyo two years ago, new faces appeared on the podiums this year with Audrey Tcheuméo, Shirine Boukli and Julia Tolofua, absent or not medalists in Tokyo. “It shows the breeding ground, the collective”, welcomed Massina. “I’m very proud of this team.”
The big miss, however, came from Romane Dicko, reigning world champion and world No. 1 in +78 kg, who physically exploded in her first fight. “We will analyze cold and discuss with her to understand exactly what happened,” he said.
A damaging setback when Romane Dicko is often expected to be the figurehead of French judo when Teddy Riner and Clarisse Agbégnénou bow out after Paris-2024. “It may be the right time for Romane to experience this kind of unpleasant moment, but I have no doubts about his ability to bounce back,” said Christophe Massina.
French sport relies on its judokas. Alone, they had won almost a quarter of the total medals of the French delegation at the Tokyo Olympics (8 out of 33). In 2024, French judo will have to be there if France wants to achieve the disproportionate objective of 80 medals claimed by Emmanuel Macron.
