Since the Munich Games in 1972 where judo made its official appearance, France has always held its own to become the second most successful nation behind Japan.
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The challenge is equal to the event. With fourteen athletes to represent France in judo, the stated objective of Paris 2024 is ambitious: to collect ten medals, according to the president of the federation, Stéphane Nomis.
A year ago, the Blues were full of confidence in Doha during the World Championships. The French delegation returned from Qatar with eight medals, including two individual titles won by Clarisse Agbegnenou in less than 63 kg and Teddy Riner in addition to 100 kg.
Fifty-seven medals in total for France
During the previous Olympic Games in Tokyo, the French won seven individual medals, and a historic team coronation. The French team’s harvest in Japan established a special status in this discipline born in the Empire of the Rising Sun.
France therefore stands out for its Olympic record in judo, appearing in second place with 57 medals in total, behind Japan which has 96. South Korea, with 46 medals, also shines at each edition of the Games.
Judo became an Olympic sport, first as a demonstration sport, in 1964 at the Tokyo Olympics for men and in 1988 at the Seoul Olympics for women.
Since its arrival at the Olympic Games, judo has developed widely across the world, with 128 countries participating in the 2021 Olympic competitions in Tokyo.
Since 1964, seventeen French men and women have managed to climb onto the roof of Olympus. Judo never left the Olympic program since the Munich Games in 1972, and women’s judo since the Barcelona Games in 1992.
David Douillet, first French judoka double Olympic champion
France was one of the first European countries to take an interest in the discipline. From the Munich Olympics in 1972, French judo won its first medals thanks to Jean-Jacques Mounier, Jean-Paul Coche and Jean-Claude Brondani. In 1975, Jean-Luc Rougé became the first French world champion. Since then, generations have succeeded one another to make France shine on a global level. Catherine Fleury and Cécile Nowak were the first French Olympic champions, in 1992, in Barcelona.
David Douillet remains the first French judoka to double Olympic champion (Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000). Since then, he has been joined by a certain Teddy Riner with two individual titles in London in 2012 and in Rio in 2016, not to mention his team gold medal in Tokyo in 2021.
In March 2023, the milestone of 500,000 licensees was once again crossed for the French Judo Federation. France has always known how to use the amateur pool to train high-level athletes. The departmental and regional committees organize official competitions from the youngest children (11-12 years old), and everything is done to ensure that talents are identified as quickly as possible. They then join the sport-study sections, the hope centers and, for the best, the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (Insep).
Teddy Riner came to Insep at the age of 15. It was at the age of 17 that Clarisse Agbégnénou, who won two gold medals in Tokyo (individual and team), also arrived in what is considered one of the largest international training centers.