Tokyo 2021: Romane Dicko, a golden destiny
Audio 04:08
Romane Dicko celebrates his victory at the Grand Slam Paris, February 9, 2020. AP - Kamil Zihnioglu
Text by: Eric Mamruth
9 mins
Every day, RFI invites you to discover an athlete who will participate in the Olympic or Paralympic Games in Tokyo this summer.
Today, it is the French judoka Romane Dicko who is in the spotlight.
Already double European champion, the 21-year-old Ile-de-France will be the big favorite in the “over 78 kg” category.
Because despite her young age, Romane Dicko is experiencing dazzling and apparently limitless progress.
Publicity
Read more
Romane Dicko is first and foremost an extremely fast speech rate.
It recognizes and laughed herself willingly, "
Yes,
c
is whew, I talk really fast.
I have to learn to ask myself but I'm animated because I say and what I do, so I want to talk about it and say a lot of things, that's all
!
"
Express flow and an innate smile. “
We were talking about it two days ago with my dad and he said that when I was a baby, I was just smiling all the time. So it's natural for me, I have this joy of living. I tell myself that life is good, we are alive and we must take advantage of it. This is also valid on the mat because judo is a game where you have to have fun. If we don't have fun on the tatami, we don't have fun and we don't
"perform"
. We must never forget this notion of pleasure
”, affirms the young woman of 1m80.
The pleasure of judo, Romane Dicko, whose parents have Cameroonian and Malian origins, only discovered it at the age of 12.
But the talent and the potential were already there.
The current boss of French women's judo, Larbi Benboudaoud, remembers it very well: “
I knew him very young, long before the 2016 Olympic Games, she was a little girl of 12 years old, green belt.
And when I saw the
"song"
, I said:
"Whoa, she really has something!"
And I thought:
“You have to put her in the circuit right away because if it's a little girl who wants to, she has the potential to go very far.”
", Launches the former world champion of" - 66 kilos ".
Exceptional precocity among “
over 78 kg
”
And this desire, she had little Romane, this love of combat and competition which carries her on a daily basis: “
I like this aspect of direct contact with the adversary. The idea that at a moment T, I am above my opponent. It was I who brought it down, I was the one who was superior at that moment. This aspect of the competition really appealed to me. Even at school, when we played basketball, I sulked when they didn't pass me because I absolutely wanted the team to win. So this competitive spirit has been in me since I was very young
, ”says the one who has just completed her second year of a mathematics license.
This rage to win allowed Romane Dicko, not even a black belt yet, to become at 17 the youngest French champion in history. Then eighteen months later, European champion. An astonishing precocity according to her trainer, the Olympic champion in the year 2000 Séverine Vandenhende: “
She is one of those rather exceptional athletes who go a little beyond the norm. It basically has exceptional physical qualities. The fact that it pierces very young is really rare, especially in a
“heavy” category
where maturity is later. But his motto is
: “There is no age to win!”
. She doesn't want to waste time. All the harm I wish him anyway is to have the same career as Teddy Riner
», She concludes with a smile…
Teddy Riner: "Romane will mark world judo for a long time"
Romane Dicko's club partner at Paris Saint-Germain,
Teddy Riner
considers her quite capable of following in her footsteps as a judo giant: “
She has an exceptional character which means that she has no doubts.
I see her determined for these Tokyo Olympics.
I do not see who can beat her and I believe that she will mark French judo and international judo for a long time.
We are wholeheartedly with her and normally, on July 30, there will be a beautiful Marseillaise on her side,
”thinks the ten-time World champion and two-time Olympic heavyweight champion.
Unbeaten for a year and a half, the French judoka is indeed the main favorite in Tokyo among the “over 78 kilos”.
A destiny therefore sewn with gold thread for Romane Dicko, whose other great passion is… sewing.
►Also read: Tokyo Olympics: Steven Da Costa, a karateka and his family clan
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Olympic Games
2020 Olympics
France
our selection
Portrait
Portraits of athletes Olympic Games 2020