the Judo Pro League, a team competition to help young judokas become professional

French judo is at the top, second nation in the world at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with ten medals including two gold in an ultra-selective sport. Hauts-de-France intends to highlight its young talents, as the French judo championship for mixed professional teams has just opened.

Ten medals including two gold at the Paris 2024 Games, France shone in judo in front of the whole world. Once the event is over, it is the turn of the youngest, the future of the discipline, to stand out.

Madeleine, Malonga, triple Olympic medalist, is one of these lucky medalists. She is now taking advantage of her notoriety to share her experience with young judokas. : “I was super proud of myself when I did my first competition, I think I was stressed, I was a little scared. […] My favorite techniques, I have three, are O-soto-gari, Ō-uchi-gari and Uchi mata.“

Well aware of how lucky she is to make a living from her sport : “It’s certain, we don’t have footballer salaries, but I think we can still earn a decent living. Afterwards, it’s not even 10 % of all judokas, so there are not many of us. This is where there is still room for improvement..”

In Amiens, Manon Pecqueux, 20 years, would like to follow the trajectory of Madeleine Malonga. Wednesday October 9, 2:30 p.m., the BTS student is preparing to compete after making some arrangements with her school : “I’m on a work-study program so it was complicated. I had to go through procedures with my company and the IUT to leave earlier because normally I leave at 19h”

Today’s tournament : the Judo Pro League, a team competition created a year ago to help professionalize judo. One fight per participant, slightly different rules, more shows… a concept that appeals to the young judoka : “It’s very interesting, it’s going to be opponents who have a very good national level, at least or international for some, so it’s super enriching !“

The Pro League also provides additional income for team members.”Judo of Hauts-de-France“, made up of ten judokas. Four are under contract, a participation and victory bonus for the others. The Amiens Luka Lomidze lives in the Paris region to be able to train at Insep, it is an additional boost for him : “There is the financial side. Unfortunately, we don’t win like in football, but I think it gives a little extra, so there are both sides, the professional side and the financial side, of course it goes together. It’s part of the preparation, it’s great.”

In Judo des Hauts-de-France, all the fighters come from the region. Here, we are not going to look for foreign athletes or other sectors. This leaves room for young shoots like Meane Korval, 21 years old, former French junior champion. He sees the opportunity to progress : “In judo, the big competitions, especially to win, are at least six, seven fights. Here it’s done over a single fight, plus in the evening, so it’s a slightly different format, it allows us to express ourselves, to try more things that we wouldn’t do in normal competition since we don’t only has one fight. It’s a great concept !“

A concept and a real opportunity for young people, according to the regional technical director of the Hauts-de-France Judo League, Lilian Barreyre : “we have athletes aged 18, 19, and for them it is an enhancement and it can be the trigger to launch their career. So it’s really exceptional for our young people.“

Edited by Madison Mouquet / FTV