How David Douillet won Olympic gold in Atlanta and did it again in Sydney

Bronze medalist at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992 then world champion in 1994 and 1995, David Douillet, then 27 years old (51 years old today), arrives in the skin of the immense favorite at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996, which for him “is something new to deal with”. “I have never been a gold medal (…) Honestly, it’s the big push “.

But to manage the pressure, the heavyweight is trying to play down. “I told myself from start to finish that it was only judo, something I can do “. On July 20, 1996, after having disconnected the fire alarms of a cardboard Olympic village, the native of Rouen woke up “extremely fresh, extremely serene, and with a surprise”.

In the semifinals, he takes his revenge on the Japanese who had beaten him in Barcelona … then allows himself a “good nap” before the final against the Spaniard Ernesto Perez. “Rather than wasting energy in the wrong way thinking, I lay down, rolled my kimono into a ball, and used it as a pillow.”

It’s also sadness, a lot of sadness

This does not prevent him from winning the gold, from living “a unique moment in his life. I have never won the lottery but I think it is superior to a joy like that. It is a childhood dream, it’s the last medal that was missing. “But another feeling also dwells in David Douillet at this moment:” It is also sadness, a lot of sadness, because I have reached the end of the road “.

This fear of emptiness after having won everything will quickly be swept away by a serious motorcycle accident two months at the Atlanta Olympics. Doctors tell him that he may not be able to walk again. He was operated on twice in four days. And finally, he will find in this ordeal a motivation to return to the fight. Four years later, in Sydney, he doubled the bet.