The medal counter of French judo will remain stuck at four this Wednesday. Neither Margaux Pinot nor Axel Clerget succeeded in continuing the brilliant momentum of Clarisse Agbegnenou (gold), Amandine Buchard (silver), Sarah Léonie Cysique (silver) and Luka Mkheidze (Bronze). The first to see her dream of a podium fly away, Margaux Pinot, who represented a real chance for a medal, was eliminated by the Greek Elisavet Teltsidou in her first fight in the -70kg category. The Frenchwoman, twice European champion in 2019 and 2020, 3rd at the Worlds in 2019, was penalized with three penalties in two and a half minutes of fighting and was therefore disqualified. "
It's a profile that I don't like at all, I had already lost twice against her.
But I had worked very hard and there you have it, that's not enough.
It's cruel but it's the game,
”she said after her defeat, clearly very affected.
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“
The second penalty I don't understand. It is she who kicks me, she is sanctioned but I also take the penalty. Apparently I handed one over, but I didn't quite get it. But she played tactics, she put the impact from the start and that's what had to be done against me, that's how she had already beaten me
, ”she explained. . Before concluding: “
It sucks because there is so much work behind it, but it's the same for everyone.
Pinot had obtained his selection for the Tokyo Olympics at the expense of Marie-Eve Gahié, another very successful fighter. At the time of the selection, Gahié was world number 2 and Pinot just a notch behind, but the latter was able to make the difference at the European Championships last April in Lisbon, where she won silver while Gahié disappeared from the 1st round. Now, it is possible that she used too much energy in this very stiff internal competition, and that she paid for it in Tokyo.
In the boys, in -90 kilos, Alex Clerget was dominated by the Dutchman Noel Van't End, world number 2, who made the difference on a waza-ari during the golden score. Clerget had previously won his first fight against Tajik Komronshokh Ustopiriyon. “
I think I was in the fight. I did with my weapons of the moment. I am perhaps not at my best level with what has happened in recent months,
”said the French, victim of a concussion in January and embarrassed all season by a pubalgia. “
There is a sequence where I do not shift. This is where we see that he is a champion. He's been picking up for five minutes and he's grabbing that streak where I'm not
". A small disappointment, obviously, for the one who had been bronze medalist at the 2018 and 2019 World Championships but who, since, has not really had the opportunity to give the best of himself on the tatami mats.
