The density of the Paris tournament is such that it forced the French Judo Federation to spread the program over three days, instead of the usual two.
The Paris Grand Slam, which takes place from Saturday, serves as a test, 6 months before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, even if the competition takes place at the Accor Arena and not on the Olympic site of the Grand Palais Éphémère.
If Clarisse Agbégnénou had ticked the Paris Grand Slam box a long time ago, Teddy Riner played the surprise guest a few days ago.
Objective: to take the pulse of the competition and, above all, to climb the general classification of the category, with the aim of being seeded at the Olympics and thus to escape a first round which could be physically tiring.
Clarisse Agbégnénou and Teddy Riner cannot miss each other
If he had played in the Champions League with PSG at the beginning of December (he had won his 3 fights there), the French judo heavyweight has not really come up against the competition since his 11th world title, in May 2023 in Doha (Qatar).
At 34, Riner, who this summer will aim for a 5th individual Olympic medal in as many participations, continues, due to a lack of French fighters, to prepare mainly abroad.
Another star of French judo, Clarisse Agbégnénou, remains on a European bronze medal in Montpellier last November.
A poor performance “came at the right time” according to the double gold medalist from Tokyo, which allowed her to put certain things back on track.
“Much less tired” than at the European Championships, “more attentive to her body and its sensations”, the under 63 kg star is expected on Saturday.
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Olympic Qualifications, continued
At the end of the European Championships in Montpellier, ten judokas had officially won their ticket for the Olympics.
A first wave which had, in certain cases, created a stir, with judokas then sidelined, believing that they had not been given enough of a chance.
Even if their selection will not be called into question, some lucky ones will be scrutinized throughout the weekend, in particular the recent European champions, Shirine Boukli (-48 kg), Romane Dicko (+78 kg), Marie- Ève Gahié (-70 kg) and Luka Mkheidze (-60 kg).
But above all, a 2nd wave of selection will be announced in a few days, after the Baku Grand Prix, and some are playing very big in Paris.
This is particularly the case, among women, of Audrey Tcheuméo and Madeleine Malonga in the under 78 kg category, the only female category not filled.
The pressure is immense and the coaches added a little acidity by allowing Fanny-Estelle Posvite to get back into the race.
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On paper, even if she made it through her European Championships, Audrey Tcheuméo is in the best position, given what she has shown over the last two years.
The selection paths being sometimes impenetrable, it would be better for her to shine on the Parisian carpet, where she has already won 6 times.
For men, three categories are still in play (-73 kg, -90 kg and -100 kg).
“We had eight medals in Tokyo.
We are not hiding, we want to remain the leading French federation, we are aiming for between eight and ten medals,” underlines President Stéphane Nomis, in reference to the Paris Olympics.
The conquest begins now.