Prior to the Olympic Games in Paris, young Frenchman Maxime-Gael Ngayap-Hambou had shown promise with a handful of medals on the World Judo Tour, but in 2024, he truly came into his own when he lit up the Champs Du Mars, winning an Olympic bronze medal in front of a jubilant home crowd.
Now 24 and with his Olympic experience fuelling his future, he continues to impress on the international stage. In Tbilisi, at the senior Europeans, he took a serious scalp, an unexpected one considering the location of the event.
A couple of wins early in the day and an inspired performance from Alex Cret (ROU) brought him to a quarter-final he may have anticipated winning but it was the Romanian who moved into the semi-final leaving Ngayap-Hambou to regroup for a repechage battle, and regroup he did! A win against Ivanov (BUL) put him into a bronze medal contest, his opponent as yet unknown.
In the final block he was due to meet either 2017 world champion Nemanja Majdov (SRB) or current and double Olympic champion Lasha Bekauri and in the Georgian’s case Ngayap-Hambou would also have to face an entire arena cheering against him. In fact, Majdov armlocked Bekauri in their semi-final and silenced the crowd but that meant the Frenchman would have the fight of his life to reach the podium.
When the medal fight arrived and the two men walked into the Olympic Palace arena, it was deafening; cheers, applause, stomping feet and even horns sounded, a wall of noise that could affect the most hardy of judoka. Ngayap-Hambou, however, was not distracted at all. He threw Bekauri, not once but twice, “waza-ari-awasete-ippon!” The volume decreased and Bekauri left the tatami in 5th place.
“It’s not the first time that I have fought him, said Ngayap-Hambou, “although it has been a few years. This second time, I know it’s his home but I have the mentally of a lion and so I didn’t feel it was pressure. It’s also not the first time I have fought here in this arena. I know the public are here for them but I chose to take that energy for myself.
Even though I lost to him last time, I had no pressure; I don’t feel that. You know, he is a double Olympic champ’ fighting at home and so the pressure is with him. He is the one who must perform for them.
I knew his right arm would be stronger for him and so I wanted to work on a game plan to block this and then I could do my judo. I stayed focused after the first score. They called ‘ippon’ originally but I stayed ready just in case even it changed. When I saw the commission’s decision, I thought ‘I don’t care’ and I went back to the beginning.”
This clear, professional attitude led Maxime-Gael Ngayap-Hambou to the podium of the senior European Championships for the second time in as many years. This is a career that is building momentum and it is a pleasure to see.
Author: Jo Crowley