Judo: Heavyweight Douillet spearheads takeover by France
The mantle of world judo could be slipping away from Japan, the sport's founding country, and transferring to France - at least on the evidence of the first day of the World Championships in Paris yesterday. Of the four finals, two saw confrontations between the two countries, and on both occasions, France walked away with gold medals, as David Douillet and Christine Cicot snatched the laurels for the heavyweight categories.
Douillet, at 28, now joins Japan's Yasuhiro Yamashita as the only heavyweight to win three consecutive world titles.
Britain made an undistinguished start. Michelle Rogers, the heavyeight, lost twice and won once, against Germany's Sandra Koppen. The light heavyweight, Keith Davis, also won one and lost two. Both, and Chloe Cowen, also a light-heavyweight, were outclassed.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies