Clarisse Agbegnenou is back in action, three years after her Olympic title in Tokyo. The Frenchwoman is competing in the -63kg category and will enter the competition at 10am.
The essential
- Clarisse Agbegnenou tries to retain her Olympic title in -63kg at the Paris Olympics.
- Her day begins with a formidable start against the Israeli Gili Sharir, 2nd in the 2023 European Championships.
- The Frenchwoman had a more complicated Olympics, making her return in 2023 after maternity. Her last few months have been more difficult but she is still one of the favorites, carried by her 6 world champion titles and her two Olympic titles (individual and team in 2021).
Live
09:47 – A tough first opponent
Gili Sharir will be more than a test to gauge Clarisse Agbegnenou’s form and state of mind as she begins her quest for Olympic gold in Paris. The Israeli took 2nd place in the European Championships held at the end of 2023. She is used to places of honor in Grand Slams but failed at the last World Championships (20th). She is ranked 9th in the world, three places behind Clarisse Agbegnenou 6th before these home Olympics.
09:41 – At what time does Clarisse Agbegnenou’s first fight take place?
The day begins at 10am at the temporary Grand Palais. Clarisse Agbegnenou begins her tournament in the round of 16, not being protected by seed status. On the program, her first round against Gili Sharir is scheduled for the 12th fight. So we’ll have to wait a little…
09:37 – Agbegnenou’s big day?
The start of the judo day is approaching at the Grand Palais éphémère. On the Champ de Mars site, all French eyes will be on Clarisse Agbegnenou, engaged in an immense challenge to retain her Olympic title acquired in Tokyo in the -63kg category, only two years after giving birth to her daughter Athéna.
Learn more
It’s the big day for Clarisse Agbegnenou! Three years after her title in Tokyo, synonymous with the first Olympic gold medal and consecration for a judoka who had won all the other possible titles, the Frenchwoman is back in action this Tuesday, July 30 in the -63kg category. But the situation has changed. A maternity has come along and the return to training after the birth of her daughter Athena has been complicated. If she won a new world title in 2023, the last few months have been more difficult with ups and downs like her 7th place at the European Championships followed by a 3rd place at the last World Championships. Far, very far from her stranglehold on the category for many years.
Ranked 6th in the world before her Olympics, Clarisse Agbegnenou will have a difficult draw from the start against the Israeli Gili Sharir, silver medalist at the European Championships and 3rd in 2022. And, even in the event of victory, the rest of the day promises to be tough! The Kosovar Fazliu who has already beaten her or the Canadian Beauchemin-Pinard could quickly follow. Very big pieces on the road to a new Olympic title…
The express biography of Clarisse Agbegnenou
Clarisse Agbegnenou was born to parents of Togolese origin on October 25, 1992. She was therefore 31 years old when she competed in the Paris Olympics. Clarisse Agbegnenou’s childhood was marked by illness and difficulties. Born very prematurely with her twin brother Aurélien, Clarisse spent the beginning of her life in an incubator for four weeks and had to undergo an operation due to a kidney malformation. She even fell into a coma for seven days. As a child, even though she was often sick and hospitalized, she fought and ended up tormenting the boys in the primary school playground. Encouraged to judo by the headmistress of her school and her parents while she was doing athletics and dancing, the Frenchwoman found her way and a way to channel her energy.
She joined the Asnières Martial Arts Club at the age of 9, then joined the French team pole at 14, in Orléans, where she continued to torment the boys, but on the tatamis this time. Crowned French junior champion -63 kg in 2009, she joined INSEP and joined the Judo Club Escales Argenteuil, at 16 and a half. Clarisse Agbegnenou won her first international gold medal at the European Championships in 2013. The first in a long line. Crowned with her titles of world champion and European champion, she arrived at the Rio Games in 2016 with the firm intention of winning the gold medal, but lost in the final to the Slovenian Tina Trstenjak. After the Games, she joined the Red Star Club (RSC) of Champigny-sur-Marne. Since then, the French judoka has reigned over her -63 kg category. She collected four additional world champion titles, three European titles and was obviously the favorite for the Tokyo Olympics, where she was designated flag bearer for the French delegation alongside gymnast Samir Aït Saïd. Having left Tokyo with two gold medals (individual -63kg and team), she took a break from her career to give birth to a little girl Athéna in 2022. She returned to the tatamis last year and won a sixth world champion title in 2023 before failing at the European championships (7th) and then taking 3rd place at the 2024 World Championships. Clarisse Agbegnenou is also very involved in the community and is notably the patron and ambassador of the SOS Préma association.