🥋0️⃣6️⃣0️⃣ Clarisse Agbegnenou
Clarisse Agbegnenou. Photo: Clarisse Agbegnenou Instagram.
Meet Clarisse Agbegnenou, an elite judoka and Olympic champion whose fighting spirit on and off the tatami mat is a masterclass in resilience, from France to the United States and beyond.
Clarisse first found her way to judo at age nine as a way to channel her energy. Her early encounters with the sport were at school, but she quickly found a judo club to deepen her practice. “I fell in love with judo because there were rules, respect, and at the same time, you fought,” she recalled of those early sparks of passion. “I was really happy, and I put my energy into judo, it was a perfect fit.”
Clarisse’s Story
Judo clubs were easy to find during Clarisse’s Parisian childhood, just as they are today. That’s in part a reflection of the country’s judo heritage, which dates to the 1930s and the sport has since become an institution–due in part to judokas like Agbegnenou, who inspire the next generation to the mat. The country boasts some 600,000 practitioners and more than 5,700 clubs. Judo is a very accessible sport and as a result, it is popular for both boys and girls, as well as their adult counterparts.
Agbegnenou first visited the United States around 2013-14 for a competition in New York, where country teams competed against each other. In addition to the French and U.S. teams, a team from Cuba was also present. “It was really nice for me,” she recalled. “I could not imagine that one day I would come to New York just for judo!”
It was the first of many trips to New York for competitions and an eye-opening one at that. One thing that struck Agbegnenou at the time was how different communities lived cheek-by-jowl, side-by-side together. Also, how there was a certain expression of individualism. “When you come to New York, everyone can wear what they want. You see different styles. I think this is nice to see,” she recalled of that trip.
While she enjoyed the shopping, she was also impressed by the ways that sport could be like a show in the United States, beyond highly choreographed halftime shows. “You are making it fun,” she noted of her observations. “You are like an actor who wants to win and it was a lot of good entertainment.”
That first U.S. tournament also illustrated how sport could bring people together. “You could see that Americans and Cubans could come and compete,” Agbegnenou noted of how the young judokas put aside their countries’ political squabbles to focus on judo.
The sport has since impacted the champion in other ways. “Because of judo, I engage with a lot of different people, religions, cultures, so you have to adapt,” she said. “This is something that you cannot teach someone who just stays in their home country. Sometimes it can be difficult, but sport is something that can teach you to be resilient.”
The Sports Diplomacy Connection
As an elite athlete, Agbegnenou represents her country in international competitions and is thus a formal sports diplomat. And she does it well, accumulating six World Championship titles, three Olympic gold medals, six European Championship victories and countless other podium finishes. Along the way she communicates, represents, and negotiates foreign understandings of France, judo, and its culture.
Over the years she’s been asked numerous questions about the country, ranging from gastronomy to sporting culture, such as if the crowd sizes are good. She is also asked what it is like to live in France as a Black woman.
Agbegnenou is an ambassador for elite athletes who are also mothers. After the Tokyo Games, she stepped away from the tatami to have her first child. She is candid in sharing the challenges of returning to elite form after childbirth, but also of the support required to do so, such as being able to travel with her baby and have someone nearby to help with childcare while she trained or competed.
But the champion is also an ambassador for her sport. Judo, though highly visible at the Olympic Games, is still a quasi-amateur sport. “From my perspective, we need help,” Agbegnenou said.
“It’s easy when you see people winning in competitions, spectators think that everything is magical, but you don’t see everything else. It is really difficult: you are sometimes far from your families. When you have to travel to training camps, you have a lot of ups and downs. There’s a lot of pressure. I can handle it; I’ve had the pressure before I go into big games. But most people don’t see all of that. They don’t see that we’re just normal people and we want to achieve something big, just like anyone else.”
Elite judokas and those aspiring to that top level have to safeguard their physical and mental health. Many also have to juggle supporting themselves with their sports training. That’s why, Agbegnenou explained, “we need support, we need sponsors. We need people to help us become better, because everything is expensive.” There are high costs associated with eating the right foods, having the free time to get enough sleep, taking care of an elite athlete’s body, and mental health support.
Paris 2024
Agbegnenou was part of the French mixed team that garnered gold at Paris 2024, her third Olympiad and a tournament where she also snagged an individual bronze medal.
“The Paris 2024 Games really amazed me,” she said. “I didn’t know that it could be this good!”
“People came from all over the world, including volunteers from all over the world. It was so nice to have them and see that Paris could bring a lot of different cultures and people together.”
That summer, she reveled in her family and friends being able to see her compete on home soil, aided by a spree of good weather…aside from the Opening Ceremony, which was held in the midst of a summertime downpour.
It was also a marvel to compete at the Grand Palais, one of the more iconic Olympic venues that summer. “It was incredible,” Agbegnenou gushed months later. “I still don’t have words to describe it!”
She was also proud that the Paralympic Games were highly attended and a thrilling entertainment and sports spectacle. “They were just amazing,” she noted. “I remember bringing my baby to this [Paralympic] event because I wanted her to see it. She asked a lot of questions, such as ‘she doesn’t have legs or arms, what happened?’” It was a teachable moment that normalized Paralympians as elite athletes on the world stage.
That’s why, for Agbegnenou, Paris 2024 was about more than just the competition–it was also about community. “It was really nice to see both the Paralympic and Olympic Games with family and friends, all together. It was perfect, it was magic.”
Mapping the Connection
From Paris, France to New York, NY
Further Reading/Resources
[E] Clarisse Agbegnenou, interview with the author, May 16, 2025.
[E] Clarisse Agbegnenou, Biography, Olympics.com
[F] Interview de Clarisse Agbegnenou, Ministère des Sports, March 2025.
[E] Anthony Hernandez, “Clarisse Agbégnénou: 'Fortunately my daughter is here, otherwise I would lose my cool more often,'” Le Monde, May 7, 2023.
How to Cite This Entry
Krasnoff, Lindsay Sarah. “Voices: Clarisse Agbegnenou,” FranceAndUS, https://www.franceussports.com/voices/060-clarisse-agbegnenou. (date of consultation).