Laura Rasoanaivo is enjoying her qualification for the Paris Olympics.
The International Judo Federation published on Monday the official list of Olympic qualifiers by category and by nation. Laura Rasoanaivo will represent Madagascar and Africa in the -70kg category.
The qualification of the Saint-Michel judokate, Laura Aina Rasoanaivo Razafy, was predictable given her exceptional career since 2023. The International Judo Federation (IJF) published at the beginning of the week the list of judokas, by weight category and by nation , qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The XXXIII Olympic Games will take place from July 26 to August 11.
Laura did not hide her joy on social networks after the officialization of her qualification by the IJF.
“I am enormously relieved after years of work and waiting to be officially qualified. It’s a great relief for me after all the sacrifices, the psychological and physical pain that I endured: injuries, fatigue, defeats, bitterness, loneliness,” she mentions.
The qualification period, which lasted two years, ended this Monday, June 24. Twenty-three judokas are on the list of qualifiers in the women’s -70kg category. Seventeen of them obtained direct qualification, and the other six obtained their qualification by continent, including a Frenchwoman as representative of the host country.
Exceptional journey
Credited with 1437 points, Laura ranks 22nd in the world in qualifying and is the only qualifier from the African continent for the continental quota. She will therefore be the representative of her country and, at the same time, of the continent in her category.
Madagascar will be one of the twenty-four countries which will have representatives at the Paris Olympics. The 20-year-old judokate has achieved an extraordinary feat over the past two years. She won the gold medal at the 13th African Games in March and bronze at the African Summit at the end of April. Already titled in 2019 in Mauritius, she won the gold medal at the last Island Games in Madagascar, in September 2023.
The same year, Laura won gold at the 9th Francophone Games in August, and was crowned African champion among seniors and juniors in September. She also won several gold medals, during qualifying events for the Olympic Games. Historically propelled to first place in the world among juniors in August 2023, she currently occupies fourth place with 464 points.
Serge Rasanda
2024-06-27 02:46:39
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