On November 24, the French Judo Federation (FFJ) lifted the veil on a large part of the French team called to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games. By announcing 10 of its 14 judokas, the leaders of the discipline having reported the most medals for France during the last Tokyo Games in 2021 – eight including two titles (team and Clarisse Agbégnénou in less than 63kg) – expressed the wish to place them in a certain comfort. Without the stress of having to fight to win the precious sesame.
A choice which generated some criticism and other frustrations, like that of Julia Tolofua in 78kg, who thought she could compete longer with world champion Romane Dicko. But an assumed choice. And during the Paris Grand Slam which takes place from February 2 to 4 at the Accor Arena in Bercy – which therefore means that it will not entirely be a rehearsal for Paris 2024 since the judo event will be held at the Arena du Champ-de-Mars – some will play out their Olympic dream. Detailed review of the four categories where everything remains open.
How far away July 31, 2021 is for Guillaume Chaine, when he won the Olympic team title by bringing two points to France – one in the quarter-finals against Israel and the other in the semi-finals against the Netherlands. Since then, the native of Colombes has had to go through a long tunnel due to a rupture of the cruciate ligaments of the knee which occurred at the beginning of 2022 and which sidelined him from the tatamis in competitions for more than a year. A return without spark, moreover, with six victories for eight defeats. At 37 years old, clearly, Guillaume Caine, down to 134th in the world, will need a real feat in Paris to hope to compete with Joan-Benjamin Gaba, the French champion in the category but only 51st in the Olympic ranking, or Benjamin Axus, the favorite (32nd in the world) who, however, struggles to achieve the performance that would put an end to the debate.
“Bercy will matter a lot. We have to go get a medal there and keep my consistency, regain my ability to be in the top five.” Two weeks before the Paris Grand Slam, where he holds the participation record tied with Audrey Tcheumeo (14), Axel Clerget did not beat around the bush. While he had feared being permanently out of the race when he was not selected for the last European Championships, the Tokyo Olympic team champion saw his main competitor, Alexis Mathieu, miss the opportunity to strike a big blow. losing in the quarter-finals, then in the repechage. A medal from him would undoubtedly have sealed the deal. This is not the case and between the experience of Clerget (soon to be 37 years old and two world bronze medals) and the youth of Mathieu (24 years old), everything remains open.
Also read: Frédérique Jossinet with a view to Paris 2024: “We are not afraid and we take responsibility for our choices”
On paper, Alexandre Iddir, winner last year of the Prague and Madrid Opens, seems a cut above the other French people. Except that at 32, his strong character no longer seems too in line with his leaders, as he himself explained in the columns of Sud Ouest: “I think that, given my age, the Fédé has the desire to prepare young people and basically, my project belongs to me and me alone. I joined INSEP in 2009, I never left the French team between 2013 and 2021, and I am in my category the only one to have won individual medals at the highest international level. But on certain subjects, the Fed supported me, on others not. The idea, at one point, was to open up an avenue in the category for Kenny Liveze, junior world champion in 2022 a year after suffering a stroke. But since his move to the seniors, Liveze has struggled to confirm and he is only 51st in the Olympic ranking, behind Aurélien Diesse (41st) and Alexandre Iddir (49th). Between the three, barring a very big performance at the Accor Arena, the match could continue for a few more weeks.
Madeleine Malonga and Audrey Tcheumeo. At 30 years old, the first has a world title (2019) and two European crowns (2018 and 2020), without forgetting her Olympic team title in Tokyo and her individual silver medal. At 33, the second was world champion in 2011 in France, and double individual Olympic medalist in London in 2012 (bronze) and Rio in 2016 (silver). Both are in the world Top 10, with a small advantage for Tcheumeo (6th) compared to Malonga (10th). The latter, however, pays for her poor performance at the last European Championships, during which she was eliminated in the first round. But as Tcheumeo could not do better than 7th, the Federation decided not to decide immediately, and this Paris Grand Slam should be the final between the two. “This is going to be a decisive moment in our category to win our selection,” Madeleine Malonga readily admits. “It’s a moment I look forward to. I try to manage pressure well, to have as many positive thoughts as possible. Afterwards, obviously, sometimes the stress takes over a little when I think about what’s at stake, but I want to concentrate on myself.