Paris 2024 Olympics: European Judo Championships bronze medalist Joan-Benjamin Gaba reaches milestone three months before the Games

Traveling to Croatia to gain confidence ahead of the Paris Olympics, French judoka Joan-Benjamin Gaba achieved a major milestone in his career with his first individual podium at a major championship.

He found himself in good company, especially alongside Azerbaijani Hidayat Heydarov, world number one and now four-time European champion. “After my selection for the Olympic Games, I said that I would work hard to meet this challenge, and today I am really happy,” he said on L’Equipe. “I showed that I have abilities, I showed what I’m capable of. »

In the fight for bronze, the 23-year-old judoka defeated Finn Valtterin Olin in waza-ari. Scoring after just a minute of action, the Frenchman made excellent use of the clock to give France its third medal of the competition after Blandine Pont’s silver and Cedric Revol’s bronze on Thursday.

Gaba entered the fray by defeating Kavan Majidi, who fights under the refugee team banner, before defeating Moldovan Petru Pelivan, ranked 10th in the world and last year’s bronze medalist.

Alpha Djalo is upset

He then beat Bulgarian Mark Hristov before losing in the semi-finals to neutral Russian Danil Lavrentiev after 4 minutes of extra time. “It’s good and we’re immediately looking forward to what comes next. I finished third, but the medal I’m aiming for is gold,” added Gaba, who is also due to compete at the World Championships in Abu Dhabi in less than a month.

Another Games selection present in the Croatian capital, Alfa Djalo, was less happy, reaching the second round in the 81kg weight category. After a close victory over the Greek Theodoros Demurtsidis, Djalo continued to play in the form of Georgian Tato Grigalashvili, the two-time reigning world champion.

The Frenchman went down after a frustrating encounter that was decided by a penalty. “Tactics are part of judo and today it ended that way and unfortunately it’s not good for me,” said the PSG resident, who won his first continental medal, bronze, last year during the Euros in Montpellier.

Three other Frenchmen who took part in the second day of competition: Margot Pinault (-70 kg), Manon Deceter (-63 kg) and Orlando Cazorla (-73 kg), were eliminated early. They will not be competing in the Olympics this summer.