Revenge time for Koumba Larroque

Less than a year after a bitter defeat in the final of the Worlds and after a knee injury that held him long months away from the carpets, Koumba Larroque wants to take revenge this Saturday in Kazakhstan. The young wrestler has a goal in mind: winning her ticket for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

We had left her in tears on Budapest carpets on October 24, 2018. For the first time in his nascent career, who saw her winning trophy in young people, the ascent of Koumba Larroque21 -year -old wrestler marked a stop. A knee injury in the final against the Ukrainian Alla Cherkasova put an end to her hopes to be crowned world champion among the -68 kg, when she was leading to the scoring.

Questioned by France TV Sport a few weeks after this disillusionment, the Frenchman had had time to evacuate her disappointment a little. “Frustration has passed a bit because it's been a little while anyway,” she explained. “After that remains the best medal I made but it is also the one that disappoints me the most because I know that I had the capacity to win. Now I still have a year to wait before the Worlds and it's long …”

11 months later, here she is back in “warrior” mode. And revenge like never before. Operated in the knee, Koumba Larroque took a long time to get back to the bath. “”Mentally, it was hard because I saw time passing. I couldn't find the carpet and when I found the carpet, I couldn't find my sensations“, she confesses on the eve of the start of the 2019 Worlds in Kazakhstan.

The INSEP resident made her recovery at the end of May-start June with her training partners, under the eye of the one who has been following her for three years, her coach Nodar Bokhashvili. To test itself, the native of Essonne aligned himself on a tournament in Poland a few weeks ago in a category above (-72kg). Result? First. “”Yes, but I am not entirely satisfied with what I did. It didn't necessarily reassure me“, nuances this perfectionist. Her knee, which she sticks before each training, investigates her a little.”I still have pain, I am restored in the meniscus but at the muscle level I still lack quadriceps. With my workouts, my knee swells, so I stretch“She explains.

“We cannot limit an athlete, even less koumba”

If all the signals are not green, the wrestler believes hard as iron in a qualification for the Tokyo Olympics during these Worlds. Last year, she was already hiding her ambition. Asked about the pressure on its shoulders – France has not won the slightest Olympic medal in free wrestling since Athens in 2004 – Koumba Larroque was kicked out: “No, it does not necessarily put me in pressure because the struggle has evolved a lot. It was the beginnings of the Olympic struggle. I think on the contrary it is good to have a” succession “and as for the moment there was not a Olympic gold medal in the female, I hope it will be me!“.

His coach wants to be more pragmatic. “”She did not fight for almost 8 months. It is never easy to come back after an injury and it feels that it is not 100%. But I am sure and certain that she will not get on the carpet for a medal but to win the competition. I think that, potentially, it can do it. We cannot limit an athlete, even less Koumba“.

CP with AFP