“The French team had an idyllic end to the European Championships with this big victory (4-0) against Georgia in the mixed team final…
Yes, it’s a magnificent end, especially since we finished fifth in the last team event at the European Championships last year. We wanted to take revenge. The Georgians came with their big armada, almost all of their Olympic selections. They kindly hooked us up before the final. It was a clean and flawless victory, with two victories for the men against two Olympic champions (Gaba against Shavdatuashvili and Mathieu against Bekauri). We are very happy with this day, we found our place. We know that Alexis Mathieu is very talented. He didn’t give up the fight, he showed mental strength, it’s very positive. We also know that Joan-Benjamin (Gaba) often comes out of big team fights, he wanted to improve his individual medal.
This victory is all the more important as you score points in the world team rankings…
Exactly, we are going to consolidate our second place in the nation rankings, which is very important to approach the draws for the next Worlds and Olympics with more confidence. Even though we know that all the fights are tough, these are valuable points scored in this ranking.
“Audrey Tcheuméo had a breathtaking Championship”
More generally, are you satisfied with the balance sheet of these European Championships?
We are, it was still the European Championships but it was not the main objective of the season. Coaches and athletes will leave for Tajikistan on Tuesday (in Dushanbe) on a Grand Slam where you will have to look for points. Then there will be another Grand Slam in Kazakhstan and the Worlds (May 19-23) in three weeks. We leave with six individual medals, one title, two silver medals, three bronze medals. These are podiums that have particular flavors, the medals of beautiful stories. Audrey Tcheuméo had a breathtaking Championship, she was coming out of her disappointment at not having been selected for the Olympics. Blandine Pont returned from a long injury and won her first Championship medal. Julia Tolofua also gleaned her first medal at the European Championships, even if she was physically impaired (she injured her thumb).
Cédric Revol, who was a substitute, brought back a magnificent medal, Léa Fontaine won a second European medal and Joan-Benjamin Gaba went to collect a medal which rewards the work accomplished by the staff of the men’s team. It had been ten years since there had been one for the French team in -73 kg. He showed that he performs as a team and as an individual. And we proved that we had resources, among the women it was often number 2 or 3 who fought and they showed that they were at the level. There were small disappointments but they will have the opportunity to make up for it.
When will the selection for the Worlds be finalized, where several places remain to be taken?
The next committee will meet Tuesday morning, the names will be announced Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning. »
