World team champion in 2011, judoka Matthieu Bataille is now a referee, but not just any referee. He was crowned best judo referee in Europe 2023 and selected for the Paris Olympics which, for his discipline, will take place from July 27 to August 3, 2024. Here are five things to know about this high-level athlete, who lives in Etaples (62).
He started judo because his brother did it! A happy idea that led Matthieu Bataille onto the tatami mats of the biggest international competitions, as a judoka, then as a referee. Now crowned best European referee, he will officiate in Paris for the Olympics from July 27 to August 3, 2024. Here are five things to remember about this great name in judo.
Referee since 2017 only, Matthieu Bataille won the title of best European referee at the end of December 2023. A nice reward that puts stars in his eyes: “I was European champion as an athlete, and now as a referee; it’s a source of pride. We have a ranking at each competition, there are supervisors who grade us based on the mistakes we make or not. During the fight, we are equipped with a headset and we can be asked to change our refereeing. At the end, a ranking is established and I managed to get a good grade!” (Laughs)
What are the evaluation criteria? Matthew explains: “You have to stay focused, have the right posture, of course give the right values and apply the regulations.” As he explained in an interview with the Federation, “Judo is a technical sport with many rules and particularities. Everything can happen very quickly and each decision has a significant impact on the rest of the fight. We have no room for error.”
Already a referee in Tokyo in 2021, Matthieu Bataille has been selected by the International Judo Federation for the Paris Games. They will take place on the mats of the Champ de Mars Arena.
This will therefore be the second Olympic experience for the Étaplois: “We feel a lot more pressure at the Olympics, there are a lot more journalists, and what’s more, at home, in Paris, it’s going to be magical. It’s a pride to referee my second Games.”
Before converting to refereeing with the success we know, Matthieu Bataille had a great career on the tatami mats. Former member of the French team, triple world bronze medalist, double European champion and selected for the Athens Olympics in 2004: “The opening ceremony with all the champions is a great memory. I would have liked to win a medal, unfortunately I didn’t get it! But participating was already magnificent!”
One of the great moments of Matthieu’s career was also the world team championship in 2011 with Teddy Riner. It is in fact the northerner who takes France to the final: “Twice, in the quarter-finals against the Russians and then in the semi-finals against the Japanese, it came down to me. We are at 2-2 and I make the decisive point. It was magical, we were in front of our audience at Bercy, we wanted to go to the end.”
In parallel with his activity as a referee, Matthieu Bataille teaches judo in the Étaples club, where he lives: “I continue to practice judo but at the high level, no, there is a time for everything. I’m almost 46 years old! I train young people, I want to try to give back what was given to me.”
In Étaples, he taught judo to people with disabilities: “It’s a source of pride, I try to instill values in them and please them by showing techniques, like falls. We do sports while having fun.”
Classes at the Etaples club do not take place just anywhere but in the Matthieu Bataille dojo! “It was a source of pride when the dojo was named after me in 2014, when I stopped my career. It’s recognition!”
This Dojo will serve as a rear base for the French Olympic judo team: “The Olympics for us will take place from July 27 to August 3, 2024, and just before, the French team will come for a week to Etaples and Le Touquet to refine the preparation and arrive in Paris in the best conditions.
I hope that the salty air of the Côte d’Opale will give strength to the French judo team for the Paris Olympics.
Matthieu Bataille, best European judo referee
He will find Teddy Riner there: “He will be there too, I regularly meet him at competitions. We are going to welcome a great team from France, seven boys and seven girls, and we hope that the salty air of the Côte d’Opale will give them strength.”
Matthieu Bataille therefore has the Olympics in his sights, he has also been selected to relay the Olympic flame. And he also has a new challenge in mind: to become the best referee in the world!
2024-05-24 05:16:44
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