What a shame that the draw placed Romane Dicko and Léa Fontaine in the same half of the table because without that, who knows if the public at the Accor Arena would not have had the right to a 100% French final. Still, the two French judokates had a particularly impressive day. Starting with the first one…
Already certain of competing in the Paris 2024 Olympics since the announcement of her official selection at the end of last November, Romane Dicko was untouchable all day. Expeditious during her first two fights, each completed in less than a minute, the 2022 world champion therefore dominated her young compatriot in the penalty game in the semi-finals in a clash which, paradoxically, was the least interesting of their day respective. The best, on the other hand, was to come during a final overflown by the resident of Paris SG who inflicted a waza-ari on the Turkish Kayra Ozdemir, before continuing her beautiful work on the ground with an immobilization, synonymous with ippon. A nice revenge for the Frenchwoman who had two defeats against this opponent, one in the final last year at the Parisian Grand Slam.
For her part, Léa Fontaine was quick to take her place on the box. After twenty seconds, the 22-year-old judoka had pinned the Turkish Hilal Ozturk to the ground, completely powerless to break free from her opponent’s grip. A demonstration of strength like the one she inflicted on the Japanese Mao Arai, who was also pinned to the tatami for the count even more quickly (eleven seconds exactly). 10th in the world before the Parisian Grand Slam, the Frenchwoman should continue to climb the hierarchy.