There are the figures, and the analysis we do of them. From an arithmetic point of view, the French judo team did less well at the world championships organized in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, than during the 2023 edition, hosted in Doha, Qatar. Friday, May 24 in the evening, she concluded the competition with a tally of five individual medals, including a title for Margaux Pinot in less than 70 kilos, a silver medal and three bronze medals. A year earlier, she left the Qatari capital with seven medals in her pocket, including two gold for Teddy Riner and Clarisse Agbégnénou (eleventh world title for the French judo star, a sixth for the other locomotive of the Blues), three in silver and two in bronze.
Added to this, this year, like the previous one, is a finalist place in the mixed team tournament, which Japan has had the luxury of winning every year since the event was created in 2017.
Another constant in the performances of the French team, the proven success of the women – recipients of all the medals of these Worlds, five of the seven distinctions in 2023 – where the men, with the exception of Teddy Riner, are groping. Five of the seven Olympic selections made the trip to the United Arab Emirates, but none of them reached the quarter-finals. Riner, victorious at the Antalya Grand Slam in Turkey at the end of March, skipped this Emirati event.
A real headache
“Five medals including one title is satisfactory for the World Championships scheduled at a particular time in the Olympic preparation,” prefers to remember Christophe Massina, the manager of the French women’s team. National coaches and judo experts all agree that participating in the world championships a few weeks before the Olympics is a headache. “We have to adapt to be as close as possible to the needs of the athletes,” explains the coach. Some took part in the Worlds to progress in the world rankings, the non-holders [for the Paris Games] had the desire to express themselves and be part of a collective dynamic. »
In this sense, the objective is fulfilled since the judokas lined up in Abu Dhabi will start the Olympic Games with a seeded status, auguring a more affordable start to the tournament. Mission accomplished also for Margaux Pinot, not selected but now world champion, at 30, after a period of personal and sporting turbulence. “To win this title after everything she has been through is exceptional, she is an example of resilience,” says Christophe Massina.
But the French women did not all display such determination or the same state of form, like Madeleine Malonga, hands on hips and short of breath from her first fights. However, the technical management had slowed down the pace of training ten days before the Worlds to allow the athletes to breathe a little. “The difficulty is that they do not all have the same profile, the same journey in recent months, nor an identical capacity to maintain their peak form,” analyzes former world champion Lucie Décosse, consultant for the Eurosport channel. But this is not particularly worrying, these world championships were also an opportunity to make adjustments. »
France in sixth place
The Olympic champion at the London Games also remembers the psychological impact of the French women’s performances. “When Clarisse [Agbégnénou] says for example that she is stung to only win bronze, that speaks to me. I have often experienced this type of situation in my career. I was better off with a small defeat before the big events, because it forced me to analyze all the details that could make the difference in the following competitions. »
A meeting like the one in Abu Dhabi is a mine of information, two months before the Olympic deadline, believes Lucie Décosse. If Japan is still in first place in the ranking of nations, ahead of Georgia and South Korea – France is in sixth place – “it has not been as dominant as in the past. He did not send many selected to the United Arab Emirates, of course, but it is rare to see so few Japanese classified, we feel a decline in their results in recent months. »
“The epicenter of world judo, around the Europe-Japan axis, is moving,” says Stéphane Traineau, also a former world champion and current coach of the Kazakh national team. Central Asian countries such as Azerbaijan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, which obtained a bronze medal, stand out today because they have invested a lot, with the establishment of new structures, the recruitment of foreign coaches. » “South Korea is also coming back in force”, driven in particular by the talent of Minjong Kim, 23, who won the title in more than 100 kilos after a day of perfectly controlled fights.
A new cycle
A 20-year-old Georgian, Giorgi Sardalashvili, winner in under 60 kilos; the 21-year-old Dutchwoman Joanne Van Lieshout, titled in the under 63 kilo category in which Clarisse Agbégnénou usually excels, are also part of this rising generation of judo. Athletes who were thought to be scheduled for the Los Angeles Games in 2028, and who have moved ahead. “We are arriving at the start of a new cycle, this is not surprising in itself, but we will undoubtedly have to reckon with these young people this summer in Paris,” believes Stéphane Traineau.
The next World Judo Championships, meanwhile, will be held from June 13 to 20, 2025 in Budapest, Hungary, the International Judo Federation, which has its headquarters in the Hungarian capital, announced on Friday.