2023-05-13 18:46:02
Difficult to find the smile when the world gold escapes you of a breath. At 25, Julia Tolofua won the silver medal at the world judo championships in Doha (Qatar), Saturday May 13, in the + 78 kg category. If she narrowly failed in the final, the Frenchwoman did not experience the disappointment of her compatriot Romane Dicko, reigning world champion, and completely missed out on her competition, eliminated as soon as she entered the running.
In the final against the Japanese Akira Sone, Olympic champion and 2019 world champion, Julia Tolofua bowed after seven minutes of golden score – extra time – by hansoku-make (for inaction). ” Lose [ainsi]…it’s always better than getting a box. You have to see the positive. I managed to work, I went all the wayreacted the Frenchwoman at the microphone of the L’Equipe channel. But there you go, we always want more. » Bronze medalist in the category last year, at the Tashkent Worlds, and fifth in Budapest in 2021, the 7e worldwide confirms its progress.
Met before the World Cup, she affirmed “aim for the title”but nothing foreshadowed such a scenario: Corsica has suffered from a dislocated shoulder since an internship in Japan. “I have a shoulder less and I couldn’t do my preparation fully. We will see if I have surgery after the Games.”confided the 1.89m judoka, who nevertheless claimed to have reassured herself before leaving for Doha.
A place in play for the Paris Olympics
Above all, the French saw until then her Olympic horizon blocked by the unbeatable Romane Dicko, bronze medalist in Tokyo, who had beaten her in the semi-finals of the world championships last year. But the world number 1 was taken out as soon as she entered the running by the astonishing Italian Asya Tavano (22e world). The PSG judoka fell on an interior sweep forty-five seconds from the end of the fight, sanctioned by a waza-ari. “It’s not normal that I lose today, not like thatshe reacted a few minutes after her defeat on the L’Equipe channel. I didn’t play well, I don’t know why. However, all the lights were green. »
Crossed successes that could be important one year from the Paris Games. “There will only be one place at the Olympics. However, there are three French women in the world top 8, Romane Dicko, Julia Tolofua and Léa Fontaine [non qualifiée aux Mondiaux] not to mention the young Coralie Hayme, who is the only one to have beaten the reigning Olympic champion », confided Christophe Massena, referent of the French women’s team before the World Cup. To know who will return the selection, it will be necessary to wait a little longer. At least until the Masters, or even the Paris Tournament. “Obviously, the selection, we think about it, but I do not put the cart before the horse. I just give the best of me not to have any regrets”explained Julia Tolofua, moreover “very good friends with Romane, off the mat”.
You rugby au judo
Less prominent than Romane Dicko, propelled into the spotlight from the age of 18 after her continental title, the ” shy ” Julia Tolofua ensured her progress at her own pace to tame her exceptional athletic qualities. “The only mixed club in Corsica was judo. So I started at three years old, in Calvi, then I continued my career in Ajaccio, at the hope center then at the Marseille pole and finally at Insep “explains the young woman, 130 kg for 1.89 m, who had also caught the eye of the handball federation.
However, in the Tolofua family, the reference sport is rugby. “I would have liked to play but there was no club near my home”, assures the judoka whose cousins Selevasio and Christopher are both professional players, respectively in Toulouse and Toulon. The second, a hooker, had been called up for the Blues at the World Cup in Japan. “I watch my cousins’ games whenever I can. Christopher taught me in particular never to let go of anything during my injury, he who suffered a serious neck injury in 2018”explains the one who would see herself as a physiotherapist for a rugby team after her career.
“I love team sports. In judo, it’s not the same thing, you’re the only one to score the point, it puts pressure on you. » A mental parameter that had so far failed him on major events. On Saturday, Julia Tolofua erased her last Achilles heel by addressing her fights with “much more serenity”. Here she is vice-world champion under the eyes of her compatriots, “colleagues, but above all friends”for a shared world medal, in his image.
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