Life’s Ups and Downs: The Journey of Clarisse Agbégnénou in the 2023 Judo Season

7. Clarisse Agbégnénou

Sport : Judo
Number of points: 125 points
Best ranking: 2nd
2022 ranking: –

Why she ?

Because she is a champion of character, a whole personality who has still faced difficulties on all terrains, the most unexpected, both sporting and non-sporting. We know that the Champigny-sur-Marne licensee never lets her guard down and the story of this 2023 season quickly became an emotional elevator.

It really began in November 2022: returning from maternity leave, the Tokyo Olympic champion injured her knee in the team Champions League, with Red Star. This setback will lead to a series of annoyances: a non-participation in the Paris Grand Slam first of all, then a great individual comeback at the Tel Aviv Grand Slam which she, in mid-February, fighting her first fight against …its Federation.

Indeed, France Judo requires it to abandon its partnership with the Japanese brand Mizuno to wear the institutional equipment manufacturer Adidas; like all judokas… except Teddy Riner. “It’s disrespect. My judogi is a tool to win. I’m being prevented from doing so,” she takes offense. Refusing to give in, she finds herself without a coach and finishes seventh… But Teddy Riner will fix everything by putting away her Fightart.

Once the matter was settled, the Olympic champion was nevertheless stung in her pride. And when we talk about the “Lioness”, we can expect a major reaction… A month later, no more controversies: she adorns herself with gold at the world championship in Doha, for the 6th time of her career. “She did it, and with style, appreciates Frédérique Jossinet, vice-president of the FFJudo. We knew that from the moment Clarisse entered into a dynamic of performance and determination, she was unstoppable.”

Dazzling counter and immobilization: Agbegnenou’s divine sequence in the final

Certainly, but even when your name is Clarisse Agbégnénou, nothing is assured and the champion sees this by tripping over her feet at the Budapest Masters (3rd), where the Japanese Takaichi beats her for the first time since 2017 .

More embarrassing, she has to explain a dispute with a tenant who accuses her of accommodating her in an unsanitary apartment with her two children. And this time, the native of Rennes does not respond to the European Championship in Montpellier, two weeks later. Unrecognizable, exhausted, she finished in 7th place. “It’s been a very busy year, I’m always trying to lift my head but I’m not a robot either,” she defends herself. It’s a meeting with his audience, but another much more important one awaits him in 2024.

His year in 5 dates

February 17: The French Judo Federation deprives her of a coach at the Tel Aviv Grand Slam due to a conflict between its equipment supplier (Mizuno) and the federal government (Adidas). In a tense atmosphere, she ranked 7th in -63kg. Judogi-gate will end four weeks later, Teddy Riner agreeing to join the German fold. “Everything that happened upsets and hurts me. I have nothing more to say to them,” she concludes.

May 10: 6th world title in Doha. “I looked at my fights, I said to myself: ‘Wow, but was it me who fought like that today?’, she is surprised. I didn’t expect that. But All the internships I did to get there were very hard. I cried a lot, I told myself that the path was going to be more complicated than I thought.”

October 17: Clarisse Agbégnénou pleads good faith to the accusations made by her tenant, who accuses her of unsanitary accommodation. A lot of energy lost two weeks before the Euro at home…

November 5: “A shadow of itself” according to its trainer, Ludovic Delacotte, and finally 7th in the European Championship in Montpellier, after two defeats. “I am very disappointed (…), it makes me angry, reacts the Olympic champion. I prefer to lose here than at the Games. We cannot always win, but know that I will come back en masse in 2024, and much more strong.”

November 24: His name is on the list of the first ten judokas selected for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in the -63kg category.

2023-12-25 07:43:17
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