the Tel Aviv Grand Slam (Israel) smiled at the France team and theUSO Judo. Three of the eight French medalists are licensed to the Orleans club. In addition to Julia Tolofua, bronze medalist in the over 78 kilos category, Astride and Priscilla Gneto adorned themselves with gold. Respectively among less than 52 kg and the less than 57 kg. The eldest of the Gneto sisters, Priscilla, bronze medalist at the London Olympics in 2012, was invited this Thursday by 100% USO to look back on this success and his season with his new club.
You have just signed a beautiful gold medal in Tel Aviv, morally, it must do you good…
Yes, it was a competition following the Paris tournament, it was important, we had to be present. And that’s what I was able to do with this gold medal.
Precisely, this Paris tournament, it caused a lot of talk, you were disqualified in the semi-finals because your phone fell on the tatami… Did that motivate you, give you the fangs, for Tel Aviv?
This is an unfortunate event what has happened and what must not happen. We had to ignore it right away to get the third place. Once the competition was over, I skipped it because the selections for Tel Aviv fell behind very quickly, so no, I didn’t think about it anymore. Nor was it an extra force to go to Tel Aviv. I especially wanted to make up for this missed semi-final in Paris and bring back the gold to score even more points.
It erases almost everything, there, it’s good, we start on a good basis!
It’s good for me (laughs)
Coming back to Tel Aviv is a double source of pride, because your sister Astride is also leaving with gold. Perfect tournament for the Gneto family…
Yes, it was really a great day. It’s not always easy to fight on the same day as your sister because you have your own competition to manage, but you also look at your little sister’s… It was really positive, we’re used to it. to be in a tournament together, to accompany each other and to win it, it really made me happy and it also gave me strength to bring back this medal. It was really a great day!
We can also say perfect day for USO Judo, because there is also a third medal for the club with the bronze of Julia Tolofua, were you well received for your return to Loiret?
(Laughs) Yes! It was great, really a great weekend, really productive. Julia has been performing for a while with her medals on each outing. This is pride for the club, for the work that is put in place on a daily basis and for Tony Rodriguez, who really accompanies us on everything. And then, of course, they were happy at the club! From Tel Aviv we had already had calls, returns, they are as happy as us.
The USO was able to please us and provide us with all the ingredients to succeed.
We will now come back to this 2021-2022 season. For you, it’s been quite a good season when you look at the results. In addition to the Grand Slam medals, there is this title of French champion in November, still in the under 57 kilos category. Is that what you were aiming for?
You should know that at the start of this season, I was really starting from afar. Little competition, a change of club, because with my sister we arrived very recently in Orléans, and we are really happy because it is a club which has been able to please us and provide us with all the ingredients for to succeed. The objectives that have been achieved today are goals that were set from the start, with Tony Rodriguez, even if at the beginning we asked ourselves a lot of questions. Then we’re not going to stop there. There are selections in the league to seek, European Championships and World Championships for this season, so we’re not going to stop there. We’re going to take whatever we reach out for.
What is the rest of your season precisely, the next deadlines that await you? These selections there for the European and world championships?
We wait. We have a preparation course in Brazil from March 7 to 19. Afterwards, we think that the selections for the future European championships will fall in stride, but we do not yet know when. For my part, like my sister and Julia, we hope to be part of the selection. After the France team today has really very important results in all categories, so now we have put all the assets on our side and it is up to the coach to choose who will be able to represent France .