Home World Cups to relaunch the French struggle

The World Wrestling Championships start in Paris on Monday. After Olympic Games 2016 marked by only two qualifications and no medal, the French struggle wants to find a smile.

Bercy as a place of redemption: after a failed Olympiad between London 2012 and Rio 2016, the path to the reconstruction of the French struggle goes through Paris, which welcomes the world championships from Monday to Saturday. “”Bring us medals!“, Launched the president of the French Federation of struggle, Alain Bertholom, a few days before the home competition.”Do not have any complex!“Added the director general of INSEP and former wrestler, Ghani Yalouz.

The good habit since 2004 by the French struggle to bring at least one podium to the Olympic Games ended in 2016 in Rio in 2016. Only two athletes had managed to qualify for Brazil, Zelimkhan Khadjiev in free struggle and Cynthia Vescan in female wrestling. Worse, France had not aligned any representative in Greco-Roman, a first at the Olympic Games. “”There is a strong expectation in French medals. Our sporting goal is at least a medal“, estimated the national technical director, Virginie Thobor, awaiting her wrestlers that they give”the best of them, and even a little more“.

To achieve this goal, the tricolor struggle put on three headliners, one in each discipline, starting on Monday with its last world champion, Mélonin Noumonvi, crowned in 2014 in Tashkent among the under 98 kg in Greco-Roman. Often injured in recent months, “Mélo” had to declare for the European championships in early May. These 2017 2017 Worlds at home are one of the last major challenges in his career at 34. Competition will be tough in his category, notably with the Norwegian Felix Baldauf, European champion and winner of the Paris tournament at the end of January, or even the reigning world champion and Olympic champion of Rio, Armenian Artur Aleksanyan.

In the feminine, the French will bet on Mathilde Rivière (-55 kg), but especially on the very talented and promising Koumba Larroque, world champion and younger Europe in 2015 and junior in 2016, in less than 69 kg. In female struggle, Japan is the reference nation (four in six possible titles in Rio). And Larroque's weight category is no exception, with Sara Dosho, in gold in Brazil last year, which hunts gold at the world after three podiums (bronze in 2015 and 2013, silver in 2014). The wrestler of Saint Geneviève (Essonne), world n.4, will blow her 19 candles on Tuesday, before trying to offer himself two days later the best birthday gift, a first senior world medal.

Finally, in free struggle, it was Zelimkhan Khadjiev (-74 kg), who will carry the tricolor hopes, he who had taken 5th place at the 2015 Worlds in Las Vegas (Nevada), synonymous with qualification for Rio. “”We are already in Jo mode“, For his part said Jean-Philippe Dos Prazères, director of the organizing committee, while these Worlds are the last major competition organized in France before the vote of the International Olympic Committee on September 13 in Lima, which has to ratify the allocation of the 2024s in Paris. For six days, more than 22,000 people are expected in Bercy, whose gauge is brought to 6,000 places for this competition.