Seven months after giving birth to her second child, French judoka Clarisse Agbégnénou suffered a disappointing exit at the World Judo Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, failing to secure a medal in her pursuit of a seventh world title.
The Baku World Championships Campaign
Clarisse Agbégnénou entered the World Judo Championships in Baku aiming for a seventh world crown. Exempted from the first round of the tournament, the 33-year-old French competitor started her day with a routine win over Slovenia’s Kaja Kajzer Zabkar in the round of 32, neutralizing her opponent without significant difficulty. In the round of 16, she faced a much stiffer test against Canada’s Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard, a world and Olympic medalist. Agbégnénou managed to edge through that bout on a yuko scored near the end of regulation to advance to the quarterfinals.
In the quarterfinals, Agbégnénou met Hungary’s Anna Kriza, whom she had previously defeated during her return competition at the Grand Slam of Lausanne in late August. Pushed into a golden score extra-time period by the 23-year-old Hungarian, the French champion was caught by a sweep that ended her run in the main bracket and dropped her into the repechage. There, she failed to generate the necessary offense against Mongolia’s Enkhriilen Lkhagvatogoo, the world number two, rounding out a difficult tournament exit.
Agbégnénou Criticizes Her Performance After Elimination
Following her elimination, Agbégnénou did not hide her frustration with her performance on the mat. C’est nul, j’ai été nulle les deux derniers combats, vraiment, il n’y a rien à dire de plus que j’ai été nulle et que je m’attendais à me voir à un meilleur niveau
(It’s garbage, I was garbage in the last two fights, really, there’s nothing more to say than I was garbage and I expected to see myself at a better level), she told reporters. She added that despite feeling physically fine and free of stress, the execution simply did not materialize. Super, je peux rentrer chez moi maintenant ! C’est horrible de se dire que tout va bien et que ça ne passe pas
(Great, I can go home now! It’s horrible to tell yourself that everything is fine and that it doesn’t work out), she remarked.
Her coach, Kilian Le Blouch, echoed that sense of frustration regarding the tactical approach on the mat. On n’était vraiment pas venu pour une 7e place. Le contrat minimum, c’était une médaille
(We really didn’t come for a 7th place. The minimum contract was a medal), Le Blouch acknowledged, pointing out that Agbégnénou failed to impose her usual pace and fought with what he described as having her foot on the brake.
Stéphane Nomis, president of the French Judo Federation, defended the decision to select Agbégnénou for the global showcase so soon after her maternity leave. Pour certains, je n’aurais peut-être pas dû, parce qu’elle manquait de compétition avant un championnat du monde. Mais je suis content de l’avoir fait, parce que c’était un pari osé et au judo, on doit prendre des risques
(For some, maybe I shouldn’t have, because she lacked competition before a world championship. But I’m glad I did it, because it was a daring bet and in judo, you have to take risks), Nomis stated.
Historical Context of a Rapid Return
This quick turnaround mirrors Agbégnénou’s path following the birth of her first child in 2022. After taking a break following her gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, she returned to competition eleven months postpartum and promptly captured her sixth world title. However, the Baku world championships arrived just seven months after the birth of her second child, presenting an even tighter timeline for conditioning and competitive readiness. While her bronze at the Lausanne Grand Slam provided an encouraging early indicator, the higher-intensity environment in Azerbaijan exposed the limits of her current preparation.
Medal Standings After Four Days of Competition
With Agbégnénou finishing seventh in her category, the French delegation’s medal count after four days of competition in Baku remained at two bronze medals. Shirine Boukli secured a third-place finish in the women’s -48kg division on Sunday, while Dayyan Boulemtafes earned bronze in the men’s -73kg category on Tuesday.
