A historic club in French judo

It's nothing less than one of France's historic judo clubs. A member of the Boulogne-Billancourt omnisports club, the judo section, founded in 1956, has a strong and fruitful relationship with the very highest level. Indeed, it was under its colors that Jean-Luc Rougé became the first French world champion in 1975 in the -93kg class.

In 1992, the club won a historic double at the Barcelona Games with titles for Cécile Nowak in the -48kg class and Cathy Fleury in the -61kg class, while Pascal Tayot took silver in the -86kg class. In 2013, Loïc Pietri was also crowned world champion in -81kg under the Orange et Noir colors.

More recently, Sarah-Léonie Cysique, in the -57kg class, has added two new individual Olympic medals (silver in 2021, bronze in 2024) to her prestigious trophy cabinet, after dominating Japan's Haruka Funakubo, who also won bronze at the end of the day and ... was involved with the Hauts-de-Seine club in this Judo Pro League!

An ambitious team for the Judo Pro League

Sarah-Léonie Cysique, who, along with Romain Valadier-Picard, will be the 2025 world vice-champion, spearheads a particularly ambitious team in its first participation in the Judo Pro League, as Yoann Catherin, the section's president since 2018, explains.

"If we've decided to take part this season, it's to win. It's an ambition shared by everyone - athletes, staff and management alike. The club has given itself the means to achieve it, thanks to strong support from the town and the omnisports."

The Boulonnais club, winner of the first French mixed-team first division amateur championships last May in Verquin, will be relying on a majority of its top-level licensees, as Romain Poussin, the club's sporting director, explains.

"We wanted to take on few outsiders or foreigners, while targeting specific categories to strengthen us, such as the -63kg with Dutchwoman Joanne Van Lieshout, 2024 world champion, or the +70kg, with double European junior champion Célia Cancan."

A team cut out to play the leading roles.