PORTRAIT – A year after earning silver at the Tokyo Games, the French judoka has set her sights on Tashkent in the hopes of winning her maiden global title there.
“A classroom for living.” This is the way that Larbi Benboudaoud, who is in charge of high performance at the French Judo Federation, like to define judo. And just like any other form of education, this one can be on the milder side or a more nuanced level. In the case of Amandine Buchard, she was likely both. After a slow start, she experienced a meteoric ascent in 2014, culminating in the achievement of a bronze medal at the global championships and the title of vice-champion of Europe before the age of 18. Then, at the turn of the year 2016, it was especially heartbreaking because she was unable to compete in the Rio Olympics owing to her change of category.
Her body was no longer able to support the stringent diets that were imposed on her by the less than 48 kg, which resulted in a wave of depression that came close to completely overpowering her, as she explained to us in 2017: “I came back from afar because I no longer intended to do judo. I was depressed.” I had moved to another country, far away from everyone and everything. I was hoping you wouldn’t talk to me about the competitions, ISEP, or anything else…
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