The only French entry in more than 78 kilos this Thursday at the Worlds, the judoka from Sainte-Geneviève Sport is growing up in the shadow of Romane Dicko and Julia Tolofua. Equipped with an extraordinary size, unique in the history of French heavyweights, at the age of 22 she can collect her first world medal.
Being from the same vintage as Romane Dicko and Julia Tolofua is not a gift. Between these forces of nature there is not much room. We jostle on the podiums. The French pool of heavyweights is overflowing with seniors and reserving a seat there is a real challenge. Not to mention the promising performances of current cadets and juniors.
Léa Fontaine traces her path according to the selections that she manages to collect from her friends Dicko and Tolofua. In the world rankings, Dicko is 1st, Tolofua 6th and Fontaine 11th. Apart from Germany in less than 78 kilos, such density does not exist elsewhere among women (and France in less than 60 kilos for men). At 19 years old in 2021, the junior European champion went for a continental bronze among the adults. Since then she has added some great medals in tournaments and a second continental medal, bronze in Zagreb this year.
A track record which is starting to weigh and which justifies his selection for the Worlds with Dicko in preparation for the Olympics and Tolofua injured. Fontaine can dream of a first world medal and join her elders at this level of performance. Her quarter-final against the Chinese Sin Xu, whom she has never beaten, will reveal what she can hope for and that such a physique is not a hindrance.
“That’s judo, putting on boxes and having fun!”
Over 1m80 and over 150 kilos on the scale. In the history of French heavyweights, we first had light heavyweights who moved to heavyweight. Light heavyweights like Anne-Sophie Mondière, European champion and world medalist, 80 kilos. Then Emilie Andéol, European and Olympic champion, 100 kilos. With the generation of Romane Dicko and Julia Tolofua we are moving towards a larger and more muscular generation. Strong, fast, technical and not clumsy heavyweights weighing 125 kilos.
Léa Fontaine belongs to the larger size. “With her size it’s really worthwhile to train the way she does,” said her coach in Sainte-Geneviève, Laurent Bosch, after her European bronze medal. “It’s not that it’s difficult, replies the judoka from Reunion. With my size, many girls could stop at classic rolling judo. If I can develop my judo, I would enjoy proving that I can do light judo. I like to knock down, that’s what judo is, put on boxes and have fun. No matter the size, you put on uchi-mata and that’s it!
“I realized that I knew how to attack but I didn’t dare”
In these spheres, many competitors are content to use their inertia to drag their lighter opponent to the ground or simply be overwhelming at guard. Fontaine rejects this minimalism with the ambition to throw and end up on the ground if an opponent kneels on the ground. A desire for excellence for this third-year law student who aspires to become a bailiff. Last year, she experienced a slump with a series of 5 competitions ending before the podium. At the French championships, she lost in the final against Anne Fatoumata M’Bairo even though she was the big favorite. “During the period when things were not going well I realized that I knew how to attack but I did not dare. I kept telling myself that I should not wait, not remain passive.”
Fontaine, 22, admits she’s a bit lucky. She is helped by a natural flexibility in her shoulders and legs that she maintains every day. Watching her stretch can make your eyes widen. Like sumo wrestlers capable of the facial splits, she can throw her legs at great altitudes on uchi-mata: “I know the limits of my body. Sometimes on an arm lock I know how to contort myself so as not to get caught. ” Its resistance to exercise is also astonishing. Girls of this size often have shortness of breath. Not her. She admits that losing weight could help her in longer matches before adding that she is able to adapt to the situation. “I’m back announces Fontaine. I returned to coal after difficult times.” a nice medal would put her into orbit to begin her dream of Los Angeles 2028.
Morgan Maury (in Abu Dhabi)
2024-05-22 18:12:39
#Léa #Fontaine #French #giantess
