Judo coach Alain Schmitt was again released on Friday by the Paris Court of Appeal for acts of domestic violence against his former judoka companion, Olympic champion Margaux Pinot.
The two athletes have been tearing each other apart for six months on the benches of the courts and through the media over a violent altercation that occurred in November 2021 at Blanc-Mesnil (Seine-Saint-Denis). The 28-year-old judoka claims to have received numerous blows to the face by Alain Schmitt, which her ex-companion, 38, has always denied.
At the beginning of December, the Bobigny criminal court had already released him. “A court is never there to say who is telling the truth and who is lying. In this case we do not have enough evidence of guilt. The court releases you, ”explained the president of the court to Alain Schmitt, after his immediate appearance.
Conflicting versions
The first release of Alain Schmitt had aroused indignation in French judo and sounded the kickoff of a media battle between the athletes. The Bobigny prosecution had appealed.
During the two trials, one in Bobigny in December, the second in Paris in April, the two athletes did not change their line of defense, delivering contradictory accounts of the events that took place at the judoka’s home.
Linked on the tatami by a coach-athlete relationship at the Étoile Sportive du Blanc-Mesnil club, Alain Schmitt and Margaux Pinot have had a confidential love affair since 2017.
Alain Schmitt now trains Bulgarian judo teams
While he must fly to Israel a few hours later to take the position of coach of the women’s national team, the technician argues in the middle of the night with Margaux Pinot. He describes a woman mad with rage and jealousy who throws herself on him then a fight like a “tornado”, based on judo holds. The duo violently bump into walls and objects in the apartment, according to their account. He denies having dealt the slightest blow to his companion.
The scene played out very differently, according to Margaux Pinot, who recounts a surge of violence from her then coach, hair pulled, a shower of blows and a strangulation attempt. Many bruises were observed the following days on the two protagonists.
His dreams of Israel destroyed by this affair, Alain Schmitt has nevertheless rebounded: he now trains the judo teams of Bulgaria. As for Margaux Pinot, she won a bronze medal at the European Judo Championships in Sofia at the end of April … in Bulgaria.