The Polynesian judo delegation with Nicolas Thivant, David Chevalier, Cedrik Thibault, Toanui Lucas and Lætitia Wuilmet.
Tahiti, November 7, 2024 – From November 4 to 7, the Veterans World Judo Championships took place in Las Vegas. Four Fenua athletes participated in this competition. Two bronze medals and one silver medal were won. A beautiful global harvest that rewards the work of our fighters.
The World Veteran Judo Championships are a large-scale international event. 1,132 participants, 67 countries represented, men and women over 30 years old compete in several fights to try to obtain the supreme title. Organized by age and weight categories, these championships allow judo enthusiasts to continue practicing their discipline in a suitable competitive framework. Very involved at the international level, the Polynesian Judo Federation presented three judokas and a judokate. David Chevalier, the captain and oldest of this team, in the M6 category (55 to 59 years old) with a weight less than or equal to 90 kg, Toanui Lucas in M1 (30 to 34 years old) in the -81 kg category and Nicolas Tivant in M3 (40 to 44 years old) in the -81 kg category. Among the women, Lætitia Wuilmet, in F4 (45 to 49 years old) in -57 kg, was the only representative of Fenua.
The first to get on the tatami mats on Monday and set an example was David Chevalier. As a good captain, he showed the way to his teammates throughout the competition. After eliminating an American in the first fight and an Argentinian in the quarter-final, David Chevalier failed at the gates of the final by losing to the future champion, the Kazakh Kanat Mambetov. Fighting for third place, the captain faced another Argentinian, Gabriel Perez. After a fight of incredible intensity, David Chevalier won the first medal for Polynesian judo in a veterans world championship. A victory so deserved for such an exemplary athlete.
Silver medal for Lætitia Wuilmet
In his wake, the young Toanui Lucas also won a magnificent bronze medal. Galvanized by his teammate’s journey, the former resident of the Clermont-Ferrand hopeful center was determined to go as far as possible in the competition. Also winning against an American in the first fight and eliminating the Frenchman Antoine Hurtes in the quarter-final, Toanui Lucas lost in the semi-final against the Brazilian Stanley Torres, who finished second in the general ranking. For the bronze medal, our judoka did not go into detail since he inflicted an ippon on the Mongolian Tumurkhuleg Davaadorj in the first seconds of the fight.
For Nicolas Tivant, the competition was more complicated. Defeated in the first fight by the solid Ukrainian Bubnuik, he ranked seventh after beating an Argentinian and a Canadian.
To close this global event, it was the only Polynesian representative, Lætitia Wuilmet, who attacked her competition on Thursday, November 7. Opposed to the Swede Prahl, Lætitia Wuilmet managed to dominate her opponent and place a waza-ari which allowed her to pass the first round. Facing the imposing German Muecke, our judokate did it again with 1’43” remaining by placing a magnificent uchi-mata. Qualified for the grand final against the Portuguese Diniz, the Polynesian was unfortunately unable to do anything after the immobilization suffered during one of the Portuguese’s first trips to the ground. The very good second place of Lætitia Wuilmet completes the medal table of the Polynesian delegation. A magnificent campaign for the athletes of coach Cédrik Thibault, who leave Las Vegas with the feeling of accomplishment.
