The Paris Judo Grand Slam begins ideally for the Blues.
This Friday, for the first day of the tournament, three Habs won the gold medal: Shirine Boukli, Luka Mkheidze and the surprise Faiza Mokdar.
A splendid start for the French team, which also expects Clarisse Agbégnénou and Teddy Riner, on the program on Saturday and Sunday.
Shirine Boukli, three-time European champion -48 kg, won the Paris Grand Slam for the first time, less than six months before the Olympic Games.
The Frenchwoman, who at 25 is one of the ten French judokas already selected for the Olympics, beat Wakana Koga in the final by immobilizing the Japanese on the tatami at Paris-Bercy during overtime.
“The Paris tournament was really important to me to win, it’s like the European and World Championships, like the Games, it’s a step that I wanted to accomplish,” declared the judoka.
𝐃𝐄́𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐄́𝐄 𝐃'𝐎𝐑 👑
Imperial, Shirine Boukli wins the gold medal at the Paris Grand Slam for the first time in her career!
🥹🥇
Congratulations Shirine!
👏#ParisGrandSlam2024 #JudoParis #FierdEtreJudoka pic.twitter.com/sGlJce19bL
— France Judo (@francejudo) February 2, 2024
The Faiza Mokdar surprise
Also crowned European champion last November, in the -60 kg category, Luka Mkheidze also confirmed his excellent form by beating the South Korean Lee Ha-rim in overtime in the final, on a penalty.
“It's good for the confidence, I hope to keep it throughout the preparation,” said the Tbilisi, Georgia native, a bronze medalist at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
An incredible day for Faiza Mokdar (-57kg) who takes on the reigning world champion to win gold at this Grand Slam in Paris!
Bravo Faiza 🔴🔵#icicestparis #allezparis #parissaintgermain pic.twitter.com/PdHlSTkij0
— PSG Judo (@PSG_Judo) February 2, 2024
Unlike her two compatriots, the young 22-year-old judokate Faiza Mokdar (-57 kg) was less expected.
By sweeping the Canadian Christa Deguchi, double world champion, by ippon in the final, the Frenchwoman achieved the best result of her career in an international tournament of this caliber.
The young Frenchwoman had previously obtained two Grand Slam medals, bronze in Abu Dhabi in 2021 and in Tel Aviv in 2022.