at the Paris Olympics, “I will be untouchable”, warns Clarisse Agbegnenou after her bronze medal at the Worlds – Libération

In Abu Dhabi, the six-time French world champion finished on the third step of the podium two months before the Paris Olympics. And announces his Olympic strategy towards his adversaries: “We must atomize them from the start”.

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This is called controlled communication. In prosaic language, we say “to make good against bad luck”. Finally deprived of a seventh gold medal at the world judo championships on Tuesday May 21 in Abu Dhabi, Frenchwoman Clarisse Agbegnenou bravely explained after her fight that it was a metal she did not have and “it was necessary let it be in my collection.

Beaten by the Canadian Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard in the quarter, the Frenchwoman still managed to enrich one of the finest records in the history of judo by beating the Slovak Andreja Leski, on penalties and in overtime. This is in fact her ninth world medal (six in gold 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023 and two in silver), but the judoka “remains with a bitter and angry taste”.

“I feel solid”

“I was very angry with myself,” she admitted. It was my fault, […] I wanted to play a little more strategy and in fact, there is no strategy to do, you have to atomize them from the start. But this poor performance apparently does not affect his morale. “I feel solid, even if I bring home a bronze medal, that comforts me,” she reacted. If I’m like this in two months, with the concentration of the Olympic Games, I will be untouchable […] With the form I have today, I must bring home a gold medal […] I lost my world bib, but I’m going to keep the Olympic bib, and for four more years!”

After giving birth to her daughter Athena in June 2022, the Frenchwoman was impressive on her return in 2023 in Doha by winning her sixth world crown. On the other hand, she ended the year with a disappointment, a seventh place at the European Championships in Montpellier, before setting the record straight at the start of 2024 by winning the prestigious Paris tournament with authority, then that of Tashkent.

Beaten on waza-ari

The Frenchwoman started the day with an easy victory against the Polish Natalia Kropska, 24 years old and 79th in the world, mowed down by a school o-soto-gari (ippon). She then overthrew the Japanese Megumi Horikawa, 2022 world champion against whom she had a tough fight, at the Paris tournament in February, won after more than twelve minutes, including eight in overtime.

Against Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard, the world number 1 who then failed in the semi-final, Clarisse Agbegnenou did not find the solution and was beaten on waza-ari (one point). Knocked down on the side about a minute from time, the Frenchwoman tried everything to reverse the score, without success. This is the first time that she has lost against the Canadian, whom she had beaten in the half of the Olympics three years ago and in the quarters of the 2023 World Championships. The six-time world champion was able to raise the bar in a match of repechage, nevertheless sluggish against the Croatian Iva Oberan, then in the match for bronze. The hard.