Budapest (AFP)

As in the two previous world championships in 2018 and 2019, France was beaten by Japan on Sunday in the mixed team event final of the Budapest World Championships, which they nevertheless finished on a good note.

This is the third time in a row that the final has pitted the two teams against each other and the third time that it has ended with the victory of Japan, who had already won the first edition of the mixed event in 2017, while the Blues had finished third.

Beaten 4-0 in the final, the French were not unworthy against a very strong team from Japan, because the selection built by the French staff was a mixture of confirmed fighters like Marie-Eve Gahié, world No. 2 of the -70 kg, and very young elements.

In the final, we saw hopes like Francis Damier (21 years old) or Joan-Benjamin Gaba (20 years old) rubbing shoulders with the elite of world judo, represented by Kenta Nagasawa, world No. 9 in the -90 kg or Soichi Hashimoto, first in the -70kg ranking.

And as noted by Cyrille Maret, Olympic bronze medalist in 2016 and road captain of this team, "they have shown great things".

- Fontaine loved it -

"I was a bit old-fashioned and we had a lot of young people to let our Olympic team members rest. They showed very good things and I'm happy to have been able to do this handover a bit, to boost them, their make people aware that it was important to soak up the environment of a world championship, ”he said after the medal ceremony.

"We are a little in trouble for men's judo at the moment and I think that will also inspire those who will see these images in France," he added.

The young Léa Fontaine (19), vice-champion of Europe but beaten at the start of the Worlds on Saturday (+78 kg), in any case "loved" the experience.

"It was cool, really at the top. I really like the teams, I really enjoyed myself even if it's a shame for the final," she said.

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Before falling against Japan, the France team made their way to the final with victories against the Netherlands (4-0), Georgia (4-3) and Uzbekistan (4 -1).

This silver medal in the team event comes on top of the two individual awards, Clarisse Agbegnenou's gold in -63 kg and Madeleine Malonga's silver in -78 kg.

© 2021 AFP