France Judo is on everyone’s lips these days. Young mother Clarisse Agbegnenou (6th World Championship title) and “King” Teddy Riner (11th World Championship title) made history. “You are living legends, let us dream for the Olympics next year in Paris,” congratulated President Emanuel MACRON immediately. Stéphane NOMIS, President of the French Judo Federation, personally presented the (eleventh) World Championship gold medal to his 34-year-old superstar on Saturday and drew a first satisfied balance after the end of the individual competitions. Simply legendary was the headline on the Judo Federation website.
“Clarisse and Teddy have done an incredible job here. We have collected seven (individual) medals and a lot of self-confidence with our World Championships team. Our men’s team is competitive again. We are happy,” emphasised the FFJ President.
Not enough: Stéphane Nomis also scored points off the mat for France. “We have agreed with the EJU that after the European Championships in Montpellier in November this year and after the Olympic Games in Paris in the next years, we will bring the full European Championship package to us. This means that we will organise the Cadet, Junior, Senior and also Mixed Team European Championships in France in the next few years. We have 600,000 judoka, 550,000 members – they want to see our top stars in action in France. This is important for us, also to be able to attract as many young people as possible to judo. We look forward to welcoming the European judo family as often as possible within the next few years. BIENVENUE EN FRANCE!”
Judoka
Author: EJU Media