April Lynn FUHOUO (SUI/-70) danced around the edge of the mat with joy, moments later she was hugging family and friends in the stands. The joy and relief was written all over the 18-year-old Swiss girl’s face.
“Major championships and me, that just hasn’t worked out so far, neither with the cadets nor with the juniors. In 2022, I came fifth in the European Under-18 Championships in Porec, and the following year I came fifth in both the World and European Championships Juniors,” admitted April Lynn after the award ceremony, with the gold medal around her neck.
It was an almost perfect day on the mat. The top-seeded Swiss athlete needed a total of 14:11 minutes for her four victories. “I tried hard to be super-focussed, I didn’t want to make any mistakes.” But in the quarter-finals, in the duel with Tanja GRÜNWALD (GER), a mishap occurred. “I injured my right hand and thumb, when I fell. It really hurts, I had to be bandaged. But I really wanted to make it to the final and win a medal this time.”
No sooner said than done! The fighting spirit paid off. In the end, April Lynn stood there with the gold medal and was able to celebrate with her family: “I’m so relieved, so happy – despite the pain in my right hand. I didn’t want to go home without a medal again. Now I have my first title – I’m really proud.”
Les commentaires sur le titre d’April Fohouo
Voici ce que l’on peut lire dans quelques médias à la suite du titre remporté par April Fohouo.
Dans L’Esprit du Judo, revue française renommée dans le monde du judo international:
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Une journée presque parfaite pour Darbes-Takam, qui était remplaçante lors de l’annonce de la sélection tricolore pour ces championnats d’Europe juniors. D’entrée, elle bat la Portugaise Tais Pina. Une cliente ! Et pour cause : celle-ci a participé aux JO de Paris après avoir remporté l’or lors du Grand Chelem d’Astana et l’argent à Antalya fin mars. Une victoire qui lui ouvrait le tableau jusqu’en finale où ses sode-tsuri-komi-goshi faisaient souvent mouche. La France allait-elle obtenir sa première médaille d’or ? Malheureusement non, puisque Darbes-Takam se faisait battre par la Suissesse April Fohouo sur un corps-à-corps. Fohouo, la nouvelle pépite du judo helvète, cinquième des Mondes 2023 et qui n’a perdu qu’un seul combat cette saison sur le circuit juniors (elle a fini en argent à Paks, début juillet, en Hongrie) après deux victoires au printemps. Une judoka solide, structurée, à la bonne base technique (l’empreinte japonaise est très forte en Suisse).
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Commentaires de l’Union Européenne de Judo (EJU):
-70kg category – Long Time Coming
Although all eyes were on Paris 2024 Olympian Tais Pina (POR), she was defeated in the second round by Teophila Darbes-Takam (FRA). The French judoka continued the flow by eliminating number two seed Aleksandra Kowalewska (POL). From there it was smooth sailing to the final. Meanwhile, top seed April Lynn Fohouo (SUI) absolutely dominated this division and not even a sore arm could stop the Swiss from triumphing. In her final bout, Fohouo put Darbes-Takam under constant pressure with a solid right top grip that highlighted her governing ouchi-gari skills. The Frenchwoman tried to give Fohouo a taste of her own medicine, but failed to land any of her own ouchi-gari attempts. Instead, Fohouo scored with waza-ari, which she was able to maintain for the remainder of the contest. With Fohouo’s consistent silver and bronze performances, the gold medal was a long time coming for both her and her country.
WITH CLENCHED TEETH TO GOLD
European Judo Championships Juniors Tallinn 2024
