Judo: two gold medals for France at the Paris Grand Slam

by time news

His eye is swollen – “I don’t even know when I took that shot” – but tears of joy flow down Blandine Pont’s face. At 24 years and 18 months from the Paris Olympics, the Frenchman made an impression by winning her first Grand Slam, in – 48 kg, the category of Shirine Boukli, the reigning European champion, eliminated earlier in the day. .

“This gold medal represents a lot of work, a somewhat winding path with failures, victories, summarizes Blandine Pont. I did not give up, I continued to work and today I am here. The tears are still flowing. “I did a lot of work to learn how to channel my emotions, to manage stress and issues. I learned to keep calm, to stay calm, ”says the one who remained on two bronze medals in Paris. “It’s extraordinary what we live here with this public that pushes us, it gives chills. »

Bronze for Buchard, silver for Revol

The Games in Paris are still a long way off, but here she is scoring points in the run-up to the World Championships in May in Doha. “It’s a good performance but there is a lot of competition in the France team, in all categories, it’s very tough. »

Priscilla Gneto knows something about it. Bronze medalist at the London Olympics in 2012 in the under 52 kg category, she was slow to regain her best level. Absent at the Tokyo Games, the one who now evolves in less than 57 kg, had to let Sarah-Léonie Cysique make her way to the Olympic silver medal. The latter injured and forfeited in Paris, it is Priscilla Gneto who finds the top step of the podium. During this first day of the Parisian Grand Slam, the French team won two other medals with the bronze of Amandine Buchard (under 52 kg) and the silver of Cédric Revol in the under 60 kg category.

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