At the start of the week the regional newspaper Nice morning interviewed Loic Pietri, a native of Nice, saying that this season would be the last of the 2013 world champion’s career. The Spirit of Judo wanted to know more.
Loic, is it true that you are going to end your career at the end of the season?
I announced that this Olympiad would be the last. In addition, the choice of -81kg which will go to the Paris Olympics has now been made. So yes there is a good chance that I will stop at the end of the season. After my shoulder operation following an injury at the Austrian Grand Prix in May 2023, I returned for the French championships in mid-November in Caen. Maybe a little quickly? In any case, I didn’t have any great judo sensations. There I am re-training well. If the sensations are there and I have the opportunity to be selected for a Grand Prix or a Grand Slam, I will take it with pleasure. Knowing that there are still European and world championships to come.
The year started off pretty well with the victory in the Judo Pro League, you, the captain of the Nice team!
This victory made me very happy. It’s a cherry on the cake. We have all known each other for many years, having met so many times on the tatami at the Nice pole. What’s nice is this atmosphere, between fighters from the Riviera, trained either by my father, or by the teachers at Olympic Judo Nice or by Michel Carrière at Nice Judo. This proves the value and quality of training with us.
What assessment do you make of your current career?
There is of course the world title in 2013 in Rio. A turning point. Afterwards there were disappointments like the Rio Olympics in 2016 with the injury before this event which prevented me from being 100%, an Olympics in -90kg where I was taken out on “one shots” while ‘you have to judge an athlete over a season. The hardest part for me in the end was managing to have the freedom to break through to the highest level. I always said what I thought. Sometimes it was positive for me, other times less so. But I don’t regret. Moreover, I note an improvement with the arrival of the new staff: more individualization, better dosed quantity. Because you can’t break through if you get injured three times a year.
Be careful, I find that there are still plenty of things that can be improved, such as clear exit rules announced at the start of the Olympiad and not piecemeal. But the federation is a big machine and things are unfortunately not moving at the same pace as our objectives as very high-level competitors. For the post-career, I have opportunities to coach in the south. I would really like that.
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2024-01-19 20:44:06
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