2023-12-08 21:59:35
What if PSG’s first Champions League of the season came from judo? Before hoping for success in football, in the men’s and women’s sections, or in handball, the capital club goes to Belgrade (Serbia) this Saturday, venue for the big 2023 European Cup. PSG is lining up on the women’s and men’s tables, with 19 athletes who made the trip this Thursday to the Balkans. Three other French clubs accompany it: RSC Champigny (women), JC Pontault-Combault (women) and CO Sartrouville (men).
In PSG’s sights, a second success in the Champions League after that of 1995 (which was then called the European Cup), won by David Douillet’s gang in the men’s table. PSG judo then continued a French tradition since the US Orléans or the Racing Club de France dominated Europe from 1985 to 1993, winning 8 of the 9 editions contested. Since then, Levallois (winner in 2011, finalist in 2009 and 2013), Chilly-Mazarin (finalist in 2011) or Sainte-Geneviève Sport (finalist in 2010) have continued the legacy.
In the women’s table, US Orléans is also a five-time winner (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008) when Levallois (2010, 2011) and RSC Champigny (2012, 2015) have also triumphed. The current format of the Champions League has existed since 2018 and France only won among the women, in 2018, thanks to FLAM 91 and in 2019 with RSC Champigny. PSG aims to win both tables at the Stark Arena in Belgrade. Five categories are represented for women (-52 kg, -57kg, -63 kg, -70 kg and +70 kg) and for men (-66kg, -73kg, -81 kg, -90 kg and +90 kg) .
Not a club quite like the others
Seventh last year among men and third among women, PSG judo arrives with a 5-star cast in Serbia. Teddy Riner, Romane Dicko, Marie-Ève Gahié, Amandine Buchard, Luka Mkheidze, Walide Khyar and Alpha Djalo are among the 19 athletes selected for the trip. These seven names are also selected for the French team for the Olympic Games. A list to which PSG could add Alexis Mathieu and Audrey Tcheuméo, also present in Belgrade, in the coming weeks. Which would mean that the capital club would represent 9 of the 14 French judokas for Paris 2024.
PSG judo is not quite a club like the others. It is primarily intended to be a showcase for French judo. Relaunched in 2017 after an initial existence from 1992 to 2002, the section focuses on the high level with significant resources. In September 2023, PSG strengthened its team by recruiting Margaux Pinot, Audrey Tcheuméo, Luka Mkheidze and Walide Khyar. They joined French executives Amandine Buchard, Priscilla Gneto and Teddy Riner. An XXL cast built to win, whether it’s the Champions League or Olympic medals. Less than a year before the Paris 2024 Games, PSG intends to be a major player.
It also has no structure. In March 2020, the club announced a partnership with the town hall of Ivry-sur-Seine. A win-win deal. In summary: the city of Val-de-Marne makes its facilities available (its dojo) and PSG can make its coaches and/or athletes’ interventions available to the local judo school. The PSG section does not have a judo school and only recruits from the prospects of this sport. In total, it has 25 athletes, the youngest of whom are 18 years old.
An elite group which does not forget the ambitions of President Djamel Bouras. At the start of the project, the Olympic champion from Atlanta repeated three areas of development: high level, a judo school and solidarity judo. “There is not one parameter that prevails over the other,” he confided in 2019 in an interview with Parisien Magazine. For now, only the first axis is successful. Concerning the other two, PSG and Djamel Bouras assure that they will not abandon their quest. But first, there is a Champions League to go for.
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