Like every year, Moissac welcomes the best young judokas in France to Cosec. This weekend there were more than 800 battling it out under the gaze of a few personalities.
One weekend a year, the city takes out the tatami mats in style at the Armand-Rigal sports complex (Cosec). It welcomes, in fact, the cream of young judokas from all over France, in December or January depending on the national calendars. This major event concerns the junior categories (17 to 19 years old) on Saturday and junior categories (12-13 years old) on Sunday, women’s and men’s, the tournament being labeled A, at national or even international level.
The symbolic milestone of 800 participants exceeded
The local Moissac Judo club is experienced in organizing such a titanic event. The 2024 edition, which took place on November 23 and 24, is, in fact, the twenty-seventh organized in Moissac, and this year it exceeded the symbolic milestone of 800 participants (344 in juniors including 237 boys and 107 girls, 457 in juniors with 279 boys and 178 girls), coming from all over mainland France, Mayotte and even Spain. An influx of importance if we add the accompanying people managed wonderfully by the club volunteers behind their president Stéphane Choulot. The councilor in charge of sports at the municipality, Philippe Lerminez, present on both days, appreciated the event to its full extent. “Whether it’s Saturday with the juniors, where the fights are more about strength, or Sunday with the juniors, more about mobility, the level is impressive,” he says as an expert. A good spotlight for this popular martial art in France, and a real booster for the young graduates of Moissac Judo (there were four on the tatamis this weekend) and other clubs in the sector to confront them with excellence.
Loïc Pietri and Angel Gustan headline
During the preliminary speech on Saturday morning, just before the ritsurei (standing salute) of the competitors, referees and commissioners which announces the start of the competition, President Stéphane Choulot wanted to thank the municipality and its technical services for their logistical support, the committee departmental, the Occitanie league, all the numerous private partners, the referees, the commissioners and, of course, the volunteers, who will have spent a weekend far from being easy.
But the reward is there: a magnificent high-level competition, all under the watchful eye of Loïc Pietri (former world champion) and Angel Gustan (recent French champion), certainly arousing some vocations for young judokas in the making.
The complete prize list can be found: on the website www.ffjudo.com/evenements.
