Agbégnénou will “continue to work to be the best in Paris”

2023-05-10 20:18:35

Returning to the World Championships after maternity leave, the double Olympic medalist won gold in the -63 kg category on Wednesday in Doha.

Clarisse Agbégnénou impressed herself by winning a sixth title of world judo champion on Wednesday Doha in -63 kg. “But Clarisse, who are you?”she wondered on the way down from the podium.

With this sixth world title, you are only one title away from Japanese Ryoko Tani’s record. Does that sound crazy to you?
Clarisse Agbegnenou: It’s incredible. I thought : “Come on, bring back a sixth star.But it still seemed complicated to me. There to have it, I say to myself “But Clarisse, who are you?” It’s amazing after a pregnancy, knowing that at the Grand Slam in Tel Aviv in February, it didn’t go very well. But there, I think that everything I have implemented with my team, with my coach Ludovic Delacotte, is going well and I will continue to work to be the best in Paris.

“I cried a lot, I told myself that the path was going to be more complicated than I thought”

Do you impress yourself?
Yes, I looked at my fights, I said to myself: “Wow, but it was me who fought like that today?” I did not expect that. But all the training courses that I did to get there today, it was very hard. I cried a lot, I told myself that the path was going to be more complicated than I thought. But I’m amazed and I’m proud. I am proud to tell myself that in the league, I am there. I’ve been on a world podium for maybe ten years, it’s beautiful.

Just over a year from the Paris Olympics, what will be next for you?
A little rest, I need it. My knee is still swollen a little so I’m going to fix it (she was injured when she returned to club competition in November 2022, editor’s note). I’m going back to training, I’m going to celebrate my daughter’s birthday very soon. It will happen very quickly and after that I will get back to work well. There will be a good year left for me to be able to compete again, regain confidence from the start of the matches and after, go for gold at home!