David Douillet

David Donald Hubert Roger Douillet (born 17 February 1969) is a French politician and retired judoka.

Douillet was born in the city of Rouen.

In 1986, when Douillet was 17, he was noticed during a demonstration by Jean-Luc Rougé who brought him into INSEP (National institute of sport and physical education).

"He was already heads above the others, and after what was seen on the mat, I immediately reserved a place for him; at INSEP, the center of the elite of the French athletics."

Consequently, the Norman youth could devote himself to his passion, while continuing his education in the Paris region, Maisons-Alfort, and involving himself at the INSEP facility of Bois de Vincennes, the côterie of the best French judokas.

There, he met his idol Fabien Canu, double world champion in 1987 and 1989.

With strength and drive, Douillet obtained his first awards in his age class.

In 1988, he became French junior champion, then obtained fifth place at the European championships.

He faced a hard bracket during the Olympic tournament with the German Henry Stöhr (Olympic vice-champion in 1988), and the Japanese Naoya Ogawa (quadruple world champion).

Not succeeding in carrying a frank attack on the Frenchman, Stöhr, neutralized, was disqualified for uncombativeness.

However, a movement of the legs by Ogawa, in the next fight, put Douillet ippon, and the French judoka out for the gold medal race.

He could, however, still hope for bronze.

Facing the Cuban Franck Moreno Garcia, in the bout for third place, the Frenchman imposed himself.

The judoka won the bronze medal at 23 years old.

In search of confirmation after his Olympic bronze medal, David Douillet ambitiously approached his first participation in a world championship.

It was in Hamilton, Ontario, that the French judoka hoped to carry out a winning performance.

Having defeated several experienced judokas, like the Polish Rafał Kubacki, he finally beat the Olympic champion and champion of Europe David Khakhaleishvili, then ranked #1 in the world and logical favourite of the tournament.

He then took his revenge on the Georgian who, a few months earlier, had beaten him at the European championships.

Thanks to this title acquired at 24 years, he becomes the first French world champion in this weight class, regarded by some as the premier category of judo.

Rising again to the top of the national standings in 1989, he captured the European bronze medal in Athens, again as a junior.

After a period of adaptation, he won his first Senior French championship in 1991, imposing himself in the final against Georges Mathonnet, another hope for French judo, born two years before Douillet.

Thanks to this first national title, David qualified for his first senior European championships in Prague, where he finished in third place, a real achievement for a 22-year-old at his first selection.

A few weeks later, he disputed the military world championships, where he earned two medals.

At the beginning of 1992, he successfully defended his national title in the heavyweight category.

Selected for the European Championships, which were held in Paris, in May 1992, he shone in a decisive competition obtaining a qualification for the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics, which took place in July of the same year: during these European championships, he obtained the bronze medal, synonymous with an Olympic ticket for Spain.

It is in this same weight class that he gained his first European title the following year in the 1994 European Judo Championships at Gdańsk, Poland, by defeating Rafał Kubacki in the final bout.

Standing at 1.96 m and weighing 125 kg, he won the judo heavyweight gold medals in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and Sydney.

He also gained four world titles and one European crown.

These achievements make him one of the most decorated judoka in history.

The size of Douillet classified him in the heavyweight division.

After finishing his sporting career, he maintained his popularity by engaging with Bernadette Chirac in the charity Opération Pièces Jaunes.

He also became a consulting sportsman for Canal+.

In view of the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics, the 1995 World Judo Championships in Chiba, Japan constituted an obligatory preparatory stage to participate in the American Olympics.

A good performance being a great step towards an Olympic medal, David Douillet was planning to defend his world title gained two years earlier in Canada.

But this time, he competed at the same time in his weight class (heavyweight, in +95 kg) and in the open category (a category without weight limit).

In the first, the Frenchman made a display of his class, by winning each of his fights by ippon.

He was elected deputy to the French National Assembly on 18 October 2009 and on 26 September 2011 became the new Sports Minister until May 2012.

David Douillet began judo at age 11, in the commune of Neufchâtel-en-Bray, near his birthplace of Rouen.

Having exceptional physical size for someone his age (1,80 m and 80 kg), he was instructed by Jacques Lemaître who taught him the rudiments of the sport.

Quickly becoming attracted to the Japanese martial art, he distinguished himself on the tatamis, and thanks to his school results, integrated the study of the sport at the school Victor et Hélène Basch, near the University of Rennes.