How long did it take you to win?
Laure Fournier: Many years. This is my fifth medal at the world championships. I had already won the bronze and silver medals. Once, there was a moment that I had thought that I would have won.
When was it?
Laure Fournier: In Casablanca in 2015. Imagine the final. I was in a very good physical form. That day I would have won, but something had happened and I had lost in Morocco.
Did you want to give up everything?
Laure Fournier: Give up doing Sambo? No way! I have strength and a lot of energy that I want to share it.
Did you continue to prepare yourself?
Laure Fournier: I like to train myself. Maybe I do too much to the point of exhaustion, according to some people. There is no another way. Sambo is a sport that teaches how to defend, tolerate, and overcome. It’s the philosophy of life, at least mine, of course.
Did you practice only judo before?
Laure Fournier: When was it? Until 2012. And then I discovered a self-defense without weapon. And I understood that this sport was for me.
I see that you communicate a lot with the Russian sambo athletes.
Laure Fournier: Yes, I have a lot of friends in sambo. This year, I won the World Cup Stage in Kazan and realized that I came to Moscow not in vain.
Did you want to visit friends?
Laure Fournier: For that reason too. Most importantly, my coach and I have been training for two weeks with the athletes of the Sambo-70 club. It’s totally different.
What are you going to do now? You have already won the main title.
Laure Fournier: Yes, I have already reached it, but I also want to win the European title. So far, this has not happened to me. I will also go to Minsk in 2019. What is the name of the big competition that will take place there?
The second edition of the European Games.
Laure Fournier: Yes, of course. The goal for me will be to win. But I do not want you to feel that I am an individualist and that I only fight for myself. It’s not true. Today, it is also France, which has won with me.
Vasily Shestakov, FIAS President:
-This success is not accidental. The French develop sambo progressively and put a lot of efforts. It took them several years to win this gold medal, sometimes losing in a fierce competition. It is to note that Laure Fournier’s medal is not the only one in France. The silver medal was won by Louis Laurent on the last day of the competition. He was beaten by our Artem Osipenko, seven times world champion in the weight category + 100 kg. We are very happy that sambo athletes from 23 countries have reached the podium. Who had heard of sportsmen in the Philippines before? Today, they have a bronze medal. FIAS provides support in different ways to develop Sambo worldwide. So we decided to open Sambo centers in Colombia, the Republic of Korea and Cyprus.