At the World Judo Championships in Doha, African athletes talk about their difficulties in their preparation, for lack of money to participate in international tournaments or internships outside the continent.
With our special envoy in Doha, Eric Mamruth
To progress, the secret is quite simple for a judoka, he must multiply the fights and the different opponents. So often go on competitions and internships abroad, like Thierry Riner, who often goes to Japan to get tougher, or Kevin Budin, a Cameroonian born and living in France. “ In a competition, you gain experience, you gain points. With the internships, we see many other judos. To be at that level, you have to practice, practice, practice. You have to fall, you have to drop. You have to eat Judo. To be better “ranked” (classified), you have to compete, you have to go out and to go out, you need money. So it’s a vicious cycle “.
For a judoka who lives on the African continent, leaving the country is often complicated. For the Senegalese Khadija Sonko, mixed team silver medalist at the African Judo Championships in 2022, toured Africa. She would like to have more opposition outside the continent. ” In Africa, we all know each other, everyone knows what we do, confides the fighter under 70 kg. We are not, either, many in training. About ten people, one per category, so we don’t necessarily have the right sparring partner. So it’s a bit difficult. It would take international internships to really meet the best. But to do internships. It’s a bit more complicated. It’s expensive ! »
Among the 73 African fighters present in Doha, several are dual nationals born and living in France. As a result, their preparation conditions are much better than their colleagues from the continent.
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