More than ever, women are the future of men in French judo.
With a female collective where each of its representatives seems - at a minimum - able to climb on the podium, where its male counterpart should rely solely on the broad shoulders of Teddy Riner, the French team dreams of greatness in the land of judo.
First on the rop, Shirine Boukli was not the most anticipated.
Even a year ago, the 22-year-old would undoubtedly have followed the Tokyo Games in front of her television.
But among the rare "benefits" of the pandemic, the postponement of the Games was a fantastic opportunity for her not to wait for Paris in 2024.
To discover
The full program of the Olympic Games
His feat against the prodigy Bilodid
To achieve this, however, she had to align great performances to overtake her compatriot Mélanie Clément, better ranked than she in the world hierarchy (7th against 10th for Boukli). But if Clément has her consistency for her, the Gardoise, she managed a few strokes that have changed the situation. During the European Championships in 2020 in Prague for example, where she won the first major international title of her career. And even more on February 18, 2021 when, in the final of the Grand Slam in Tel Aviv, she had inflicted on the queen of the under 48 kg category, the Ukrainian Daria Bilodid, double world champion. A success which marked the spirits, and changed its destiny. With tremendous future potential, judokate had just passed into the present. In an instant.And even if behind it had a little more trouble to confirm (5th in Kazan and elimination in the quarter-finals of the last Worlds), Boukli nevertheless kept his hand in the minds of the French staff for Tokyo. To the point of showing up there with the sign of a girl capable of anything.
Read also: Olympic Games 2020: dates, program, time difference, channels, French athletes, all about the Tokyo Olympics
Thus, Kilian Le Blouch, her trainer (and also participating in her Games in less than 66kg), says about her: “
She is very hardworking, very demanding, she always wants to work, to progress. She has her head on her shoulders, and in addition, she is a killer (...) After confinement, she had improved almost all her perfs in physical preparation, and we know how much at a very high level, it is complicated to go and earn 5 or 10%. She, she managed to do it, in a period of confinement, with small equipment, because she is relentless and rigorous
”. Qualities that the young woman claims, moreover, aware that her talent will achieve nothing without putting in a good dose of sweat: "
A year ago, clearly, the Games would not have been for me. But the postponement opened up an opportunity for me and I told myself that I had to manage to take what there was to take. I worked a lot for it and I think that's what paid off over the past year. I know that I am capable of doing beautiful things because I have proven it to myself. I beat girls who are references and that only increased my motivation tenfold. Over the results, I wanted to look even higher and higher, especially since behind, there were these Games in Tokyo. I wanted to be selected, so that there would be no doubt. It allowed me to progress.
"
So far I have managed to move forward without putting pressure on myself, it has worked and I want to continue like this.
Shirine Boukli
Obviously, even if she discovers the reality of the Games in Tokyo, which made more than one athlete before her dizzy, Boukli does not intend to stop there.
While keeping your feet firmly on the ground.
“
I don't put unnecessary pressure on myself
,” she confided a few weeks ago.
"
Even though I know that I have had good results for a year, I only use it in a positive way, by having more confidence in myself. It is certain that today I have acquired a different status. The adversaries must see differently a fight against me, I do not know… But I try to keep the same line of conduct. So far, I have managed to move forward without putting pressure on myself, it has worked and I want to continue like this, to stay young and innocent with a good spirit of passion.
"And maybe she will be the first to step on a podium for France?
