Dicko, Riner, Agbegnenou and more on friendship and solidarity

Happy birthday Tokyo 2020!

One year ago, the Japanese capital hosted the Olympics, which had been postponed for 12 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When they did take place, the highly-anticipated Games exceeded all expectations. 

So many different elements converged to make those Games special, in a tournament that became synonymous with elite performance, excellent organisation, new records and unity. 

More than 10,000 athletes showed the world how friendship and solidarity can be at the heart of sport. Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi shared a gold medal, skateboarders were joyous when their opponents succeeded, and men and women were united in new mixed team events.

At just 21 years old Romane Dicko experienced her first Games after winning two European titles. The French judoka won bronze in the +78kg and gold in the mixed team event with her French teammates, after coming close to being eliminated in the quarter-finals against Israel.

But beyond a gold medal, won alongside nine other teammates including Teddy Riner and Clarisse Agbegnenou, Dicko’s memories turn to the moments of friendship she shared when France won the first Olympic mixed team judo event in a final against Japan at the Nippon Budokan.

Read about her experiences below.

Competitors but also friends

“There are many strong nations but not as many strong teams. It’s a constant challenge to tell yourself, ‘we are in theory weaker but we can show that team spirit can make the difference.’ Compared to Japan, we are weaker, they have more Olympic medals and titles, but in the end, the strength of the French team allowed us to beat them in Japan. The [idea of a] team is incredible. Even in the warm-up room, each country encouraged one another. 

“This is the sport of judo. We are competitors but we are also friends. We want to help each other, we become stronger because the Olympics can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We will hug each other because it is sport, because we want to experience those moments together. I am talking about judo because it’s my sport, but other athletes would say the same thing. It’s a human adventure and even more so when it comes to elite athletes.”

“A united team”

“It was the first Olympic mixed team event and we wanted to make a mark at those Games. We got into the final against Japan – a final of titans. Japan are the biggest team in judo. Before the final, we said, ‘OK, it’s an Olympic final, we have to feel free and try to win the title on their home soil.’ We went through many emotions but now we’re so often told about the image we projected: a united team.”

‘Mister Riner’ speaks out

“Our individual results would make you think we wouldn’t make it, but we motivated ourselves. The older athletes like Clarisse and Teddy would say, ‘The individual events are over, this is new. Some of you won medals and others didn’t, but it doesn’t matter. This is the first [mixed team…