Judo: meeting with four Olympic medalists at the Champions Route, in Chartres

On the edge of the tatami, students from the Chartres area and neighboring towns had difficulty containing their excitement at meeting the champions, as part of the Champions’ Route, a civic tour.
They are Olympic and Paralympic medalists, or figures in their discipline, and above all… “They have class”, believes Jade, a CE2 student at the Maurice Carême school, in Chartres.

The young girl was one of the 550 students on the tatami Friday morning at the Halle Jean Cochet. Alongside them, around fifty people with disabilities also participated in this initiation. In total, this Friday, December 13, 1,000 students benefited from this event.

On the tatami, the children recognized some faces “seen on TV”. Three of the champions had in fact participated in the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris: Sarah-Léonie Cysique (bronze medalist in the under 57 kg category and team gold medalist), Aurélien Diesse (team gold medalist) and Hélios Latchoumanaya (silver medalist).

The children were also able to meet Cathy Arnaud (bronze medalist at the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988), Fanny-Estelle Posvite (bronze medalist at the world championship in 2015), Christophe Massina (coach of the French team), and Guy Delvingt (1979 French champion).

“A school of life”

After a presentation of the discipline, the students were able to take up sport, thanks to the exercises proposed by the champions, while discovering the history of judo, its values, and its philosophy.

“Friendship, courage, respect, self-control, honor, politeness, sincerity and modesty” are the eight values ​​taught by the moral code of judo. During this initiation, the children discovered how the values ​​of sport can be applied at school, particularly around the problem of school bullying.

“Judo can bring a lot of things to your children,” promises Sarah-Léonie Cysique, double medalist at the Paris Games. “It brings self-confidence, great values ​​and, above all, a lot of fun.”