Judo: Heavyweight Douillet spearheads takeover by France
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.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.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments