Eleven months after the birth of her daughter, Clarisse Agbegnenou dreams of winning a sixth world champion title this Wednesday in Doha. The 30-year-old judoka started her day well by winning her first fight in -63kg. Alpha Oumar Djalo is aligned in -81kg.
On June 15, Athéna will celebrate her first birthday, and her mother Clarisse Agbegnenou dreams of bringing her a sixth world medal as a gift a little early. The -63kg Olympic champion, who returned to competition last November in the Champions League (two wins, one loss) and then finished seventh in the Tel Aviv Grand Slam in February (two wins, two losses) , is competing this Wednesday in the world championships in Doha, with the sweet hope of returning to the top of its category.
But the young mother is currently 17th in the world rankings and knows that her day will be full of pitfalls, especially since she is not exempt from the first round. In any case, she started well, with a victory on ippon against the Serbian Anja Obradovic (30th), whom she faced for the first time, sixteen seconds from the end of the fight. She will now challenge the one who is just ahead of her in the world rankings, the Cuban Maylin Del Toro Carvajal, whom she has already beaten twice in two confrontations.
Djalo exempted from the first round
The other Frenchman in the running this Wednesday, in the -81kg category, is Alpha Oumar Djalo (26), world No. 5 but still never medalist in major individual championships. Exempted from the first round, he will start his competition against Kyrgyz Asad Masabirov (30th). Objective of the day for the Blues: to win a fourth or even a fifth medal in these 2023 Worlds.