Loïc Pietri was present last week at the Garden Party organized by the Alpes-Maritimes Department in honor of high-level athletes from the Riviera. An evening to celebrate great performances and encourage those to come.
Injured in the shoulder during the Austrian Grand Prix at the end of May, the judoka from Nice had to undergo surgery. Now in the recovery phase, he is only thinking about the last challenge of his career: qualifying for the Paris Olympics. He confided in a crucial year but which he is approaching “with desire and without pressure”.
First of all, how have you been since your injury?
I’m doing well. The operation went well. Little by little I am regaining sensations. I hope the pain will go away quickly so I can attack hard again. I would like to be present for France (in November in Caen), to have a good season. I think I have that in the bag, being able to have a few good competitions to try to qualify. I believe that it is also open because there has not yet been any significant result from the competition. It’s doable but you have to be able to do it.
How did you feel when you were injured?
That discouraged me a little. I was starting to regain a place. It was the only time where I had a favorable draw and not a top 5 in the world at the start of the competition. I’m boasting about a fight that I dominated against Borchashvili, a guy against whom I had almost won a month before in a very close clash. I could reach the half, or even go even further. It’s like that. We must not think about bad luck, we must move forward, period.
Can the prospect of the Olympics hasten your return?
It’s a risk to take. This is my last season. I respect but I try to be short on deadlines. I can’t help but get trained in the competitions. We’ll see.
“End on a good note”
In what state of mind are you approaching your final season?
I try to do everything as I want, not to put extra pressure on myself but to still fight with my guts. Recovery is not the time to get excited, because it is the best way to get hurt again. I stay calm, I fight a little calmly and we will start to accelerate at the end of the month. The surgeons told me that after the operation it would take about four months for me to be really strong. I started again with young people and lightweights on the hope pole in Nice, I will be able to move on to athletes of my weight (-81 kg). All athletes dream of it but I hope to end my career on a good note. It’s a source of motivation, I try to transform that into positive energy.
Which dates will be important for qualification?
I don’t know what the Fédé expects of me because I am the reigning French champion. My goal is to get back strong against France and follow up with a great international season. There will be the Paris tournament, a key deadline. In judo, there are always surprises in certain categories in the year of the Games. I hope it’s a good one.
Ending your career in Paris would be great…
It’s certain. But I approach all of this with serenity. I’m going to give the maximum of what I have in the fights, prepare myself very professionally and we’ll see what happens.
Before your injury, you had reassured yourself.
I managed to get my judo back in place, adapting to the many rule changes. Left-handed, I am operational. I worked a lot. A move that was one of my specials had been removed from me. It hurt me at one point. On right-handedness, it’s not perfect, I’m not yet where I would like because I like to fall quickly in fights when I can, but I have good stats. It’s starting to be in place, we have to see now if I kept everything despite my injury.
You share this quest for the Olympics with your club partner (the OJN) Maxime Gobert (- 66 kg).
He is a bit in the same situation as me, he also has to take the place and pass in front of Walide Khyar. He’s strong but it’s not easy to overtake someone who is 5th in the world. The European Championships will be very important for him. He will have to manage to win a medal, he is more than capable of doing so. Two Riviera judokas at the Olympics, that would be really cool.
2023-09-14 12:25:58
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