in parajudo, the French have plenty of podiums but lack the gold – Libération

2024-09-07 18:31:00

Sign up to receive for free our Libélympic newsletter every morning during the Paralympic Games.

We wanted one last shot. Make the summer of the Olympic and Paralympic Games last again and again. The finish line is not far away, but we refuse to cross it. Let these medals, these podiums, these shouts of joy, these tears, these flags, this blissfully gesticulating Phrygian, and also this intoxicating “auuuuuux Champs-Elysées” of the late Joe Dassin. Already nostalgic because the closing ceremony of the Paralympic Games was only scheduled for this Sunday evening, we sat down early in the stands of the Champs-de-Mars Arena to follow the last day of para-judo of the Games, and have a last dose of what has made us vibrate in recent months. On the programme: five Frenchmen on the tatami, three medals, an excited and bleary-eyed audience. Summary of a French day at the dojo.

Prescillia Lézé, learning

I’m not sure that Clarisse Agbegnenou’s words of comfort as she left the tatami are enough to fill Prescillia Lézé’s pain. On Saturday morning, the 25-year-old French judoka suffered two quick defeats, ending her dreams of a Paralympic medal for her first Games. Crossed with still wet eyes in the mixed zone, the 2023 European champion talks about the debriefing: “I tried to be more enterprising in the repechage but unfortunately I didn’t complete my attack and I paid for it in cash.” Twice the judoka was tackled while starting the movement. His coach, Camille Bresse: “Come in aggressively but in judo you have to fall, that is, you put yourself in a vulnerable position and can be surprised. Maybe there’s a bit of a rush.” And the coach announces the color for the next few weeks: “Now holidays, then we’ll come up with a plan of attack to bring one back in four years.”

Cyril Jonard, longevity

French nugget Hélios Latchoumanaya was only 4 years old when Cyril Jonard won the Grail in Athens. At almost 50 years old, the man who named his daughter Athena is still there, on the tatamis of Paris and is again on a Paralympic podium, two decades later. Blind and deaf – he is a multi-medallist at the Deaflympics, the world competition reserved for the deaf – Jonard was the first Frenchman of the day to get on the tatami, while most of the seats in the Arena are still empty. And Limougeaud’s morning with boxer jokes was a long one indeed. After almost eighteen minutes spent on the mat in three matches, he saw his dream of a final against the British Daniel Powell dashed, after an interminable golden score. “It’s very frustrating, his wife Cécilia snuck in with us during the lunch break. But he has extraordinary strength. We have the proof two hours later, in the small finale. Cyril Jonard, who communicates using sign language, drawn by the fingers of his trainer Jason Guillot on the palm of his hand, manages to immobilize his Uzbek counterpart, Turgun Abdiev, to do ippon. Stoic from the start of the day, we see him jubilant like a child on the tatami, until the beginning of the Macarena in front of the cameras, before throwing herself into the arms of Sandrine Martinet, who returned to the Champ de Mars to support her friends after winning silver on Thursday.

Jason Grandry, the wounded one in the bronze

His day began with an exploit, then a cold shower. For his entry into the race, Jason Grandry defeated Ilham Zakiyev, more than 150 kilos on the scales and one of the favorites in the +90kg category. The Breton, hypermobile, managed to increase the penalties for non-combativeness on his opponent, until he won. Towards the semi-final… And elimination in sixteen seconds. “I wanted to go fast, but his hand was in a better position than mine” says the judoka with the Viking look, with tricolor braids tied on his head. For him, on the occasion of his first Games, it will therefore be the final in the afternoon. And another argument expressed, but this time in his favor. After twenty-nine seconds the judoka also knocks down his Turkish opponent “a big boy”. “I have a loose knee [il n’a failli pas être présent aux Jeux en raison d’une luxation du ménisque, ndlr]I was still having the MRI two days ago. This medal represents eight years of sacrifice. Grandry testified, with a tremor in his voice after his bronze medal.

Hélios Latchoumanaya, a step too high

“The key to the final is his mobility.” This will be the weapon that will transform the bronze in Tokyo into gold in Paris in the final against the Ukrainian Oleksandr Nazarenko, explained the coach of Hélios Latchoumanaya’s club, Cédric Margalejo. His protégé had just won his first two fights, not without difficulty. “The first one was difficult, but it’s normal, when you enter such an important competition you can’t free yourself from the beginning” Margalejo analyzed. Supported by a clan that came in large numbers from the south-west, recognizable by a T-shirt with his image, the Tarbes native appeared more relaxed in the semi-final, performing two clear movements, in particular a sacrifice technique to send the ball flying opponent .on him and do ippon.

Inflamed by the (re)appearance of Olympic star Clarisse Agbenenou on the tatami, the French fans welcome Hélios Latchoumanaya, in the final, like a gladiator entering the arena. Unperturbed, the two-time world champion and European champion takes to the tatami to write the best page of his young career. “The pressure doesn’t get to him, he’s a fantastic person, he knows how to manage” he warned his coach. But as in Tokyo, it is with this exasperating bitterness that Latchoumanaya ends his Paralympic tournament. Having fallen due to a slight movement from the Ukrainian after forty seconds, the Frenchman fought with determination to reach the scorers’ table. In vain. “I only had gold in mind, it’s a huge disappointment, especially considering the fighting aspect. I make a small mistake, and even though I regain the upper hand in the fight, I can’t bring him down again. It’s the little details that make me miss the gold.” the judoka observed dejectedly after his fight.

Nacer Zorgani, the all-rounder

Two matches and a chocolate medal. Finesse in some categories, Nacer Zorgani qualified for the small final of + 90 kg (J2, for the blind) after the morning defeat without passing through the repechage area, in his category there were only seven registered. Practicing numerous martial arts – karate, kickboxing, boxing, taekwondo, ju-jitsu – the 38-year-old judoka returned to judogi in 2022. And this passion for fighting allowed him to participate, in his own way, in the Olympic Games: “I was the voice of boxing during the Olympics: I presented 235 fights and 13 victory ceremonies, he explained a few days ago. For me it was a training, I got used to the music, the screams, the light, I had the chance to see what awaited me. A repetition that was not enough for the giant of a thousand lives – born in Algeria, he was, among other things, a philosophy student, comedian and employee in finance – who was unable to add the line “Paralympic medal” on your CV.