There was a hint of relief in Sarah Léonie Cysique’s smile as she stepped down from the top of the podium in Conegliano. The French world medallist, double Olympic medallist and double Olympic team champion, had claimed gold at the European Open, this time in the -63kg category, not her usual home.
“It’s been a long time since the World Championships,” she said, half laughing, half sighing. “Six months, two competitions… that is very long. I needed to get back into competition before Tokyo Grand Slam, l will be back at -57kg there, but I needed some fights, I didn’t want to lose the routine.”
That word, ‘routine‘, comes up often when Cysique talks about her sport. For someone who has lived her life around training schedules, travel, and tournaments, the long break after the worlds was almost unsettling.
“I had a big break during the summer, a big break from tournaments I mean,” she explained. “It was the first time in a very long time, and honestly, it felt weird. Too long for me. Of course, it was nice to rest, but I like having competitions often. I need that rhythm. We had national training camps, then a few weeks off in between. It was the longest summer I have ever had, and I kept asking, ‘When does competition routine start again?’”
That sense of rhythm, of always having something to work towards, is part of who she is. “After the Paris Olympics, I took a long break before coming back,” she said. “During this period, I felt a bit lost. I didn’t have any goals. Of course, there is 2028 but it’s so far away and I missed my short term, daily routines.”
Post worlds, coming back through events like Prague and Conegliano wasn’t about proving anything to anyone. It was about getting the feeling back. “These competitions give me trust again,” she said. “After a long break, you can lose some things, timing, instinct, attitude. So I came to find that again, to test myself, to see what still works.”
The result, gold in Conegliano, showed that plenty still does but the path wasn’t easy. “I didn’t smile much today because I am broken everywhere,” she laughed. “I was sick, my knee hurts, my neck, my nose, I almost broke it but I came here to win, and I did.”
Her final was at high-quality, a contest that could easily have belonged to a Grand Slam, against 2024 world champion Joanne Van Lieshout (NED). “I was actually excited,” she said. “We know each other from the French Pro League, she fights for the clubs. My coach told her I am coming here in -63kg and she did say she hoped we meet in the final…and there we were. It was a great fight.”
Fighting up a weight was an adjustment but one she handled with humour. “In my first fight, I forgot I was in 63,” she grinned. “I thought, ‘Wow, she is strong!’ and then I realised, ‘Right, I am not in my category today!’ The style is different, maybe rougher, maybe a bit slower, but still tough. It was a good experience.”
Next, Cysique turns her focus back to her usual division and the Tokyo Grand Slam. “I will go with the national team,” she said. “Then we have a training camp straight after, and hopefully a few days of rest after that.”
She might have been tired and a little battered but her smile never faded for long. “I always take pleasure in fighting, even when it’s not my best day, I am happy to be out there.”
Author: Szandra Szogedi