Clarisse Agbegnenou: “Let people remember me like that.”
Autor: Szandra Szogedi
Zuerst veröffentlicht bei / First published at: Clarisse Agbegnenou: “Let people remember me like that.”
Clarisse Agbegnenou doesn’t just walk into a room, she arrives with presence. She brings the weight of six world titles, an Olympic gold medal alongside a silver and a bronze too, and yet somehow, even more compelling than her accolades is the honesty she wears like a second skin. There is nothing rehearsed, nothing guarded. Just Clarisse: a mother, a warrior, a woman.
During her latest interview, we sat down not to talk about medals or rankings. Not really. This conversation is about the journey, her journey, as an elite athlete, yes, but also as a mother rediscovering her body, her strength and her voice. All while, somewhat, carrying others with her: her daughter, her family and all the women silently walking a similar path.
Still, before diving deeper, it was inevitable to speak about the final of the 2025 Europeans in Montenegro, where she had to bow off the mat after receiving a hansoku-make… “For me, it’s not about win or lose. It was the way I lost. That was the hardest part.” Clarisse’s tone softens but never wavers. “Rules are rules. If they say it was dangerous, then I accept it, but what hurt is that I was the best that day. My body, my judo, my mind. I was back.”
That word back carries such weight because coming back after childbirth isn’t a switch, it’s a battle and it’s one only some can truly see. “People don’t understand,” she says. “After pregnancy, it’s not just your body, your whole judo changes. Your mentality shifts 360 degrees, and when you are breastfeeding, managing sleep, training… you wonder if you will ever be you again.”
Her voice is calm but you feel the storm behind it as she continues. “At the time, I thought maybe I was finished. I even told myself that at times. But now… now, my strength is returning. My explosivity. My judo. I feel it. I know I can win again and that’s a powerful thing.”
Clarisse doesn’t shy away from the messiness of this journey, the hormones, the fatigue, the doubt. “You can never really train the same. When your baby’s sick, you don’t go. The other girls go. They get better. You don’t. That’s just how it is and people don’t see that but what they also don’t see is what it gives you. A new fire. When your baby’s there… you fight differently. Like a lioness. You would kill for them. You go to war on the mat for them.
“I even wanted to have another baby after the Olympics but I didn’t finish breastfeeding. She still needed me and I needed to feel myself again, even just for a moment, before giving my body away again. Now I know, I can come back. It’s hard, but I can.
“With the first child, you don’t know what you are walking into, everything hits you at once. Your identity, your strength, your emotions and you start wondering… who am I now? But now I know what to expect.’
That question is the quiet heartbeat of this interview. Who am I now? Clarisse isn’t just a returning athlete. She’s a re-emerging woman. And her answer? She’s not done yet. Clarisse shared that she is now officially stepping away to try for a second baby and embrace this next chapter in her life.
Thoughts, one might wonder whether we would be having the same conversation if the last Olympics had taken place anywhere other than Paris.
“No, I wouldn’t have come back if the Games weren’t in Paris,” she admits. “It’s home. I had support, from sponsors, from the federation, from my club. They told me: we will help you. That doesn’t happen everywhere and when people help, you fight harder.”
Speaking of support, she knows what a privilege that is and she refuses to take it for granted. “Which woman in the world has sponsors and a salary while pregnant? Not many. So no, I won’t spit on that. I am grateful. Let’s do it together and continue moving forward.”
In the midst of it all, Clarisse recently landed in Los Angeles, not for a pre-Olympic experience, nor to compete, but to teach. She refers to it precisely as a business trip, one that includes several stops across the United States.
“They invited me, and it really feels like a privilege, especially knowing there are so many exceptional female judoka around the world, not just in Europe. That’s why it means so much that they chose me. In the U.S., they don’t yet have the depth or history of a large judo community, but what they do have is an incredible hunger to learn, especially before the Games. It’s not just about learning techniques or how to throw, it’s about understanding the heart of judo: the values, the discipline, the mental toughness, the respect. They want to grasp what it really means to live judo. I will be visiting clubs, schools, and even universities to share not only what I have done on the mat, but who I’ve become through it. I will bring my experience, my challenges, my resilience and hopefully, I can inspire a new generation to find their own strength through judo.”
Of course, she’s not going alone. Clarisse’s support system is joining her in the USA too. Family is everything to her and when asked what their support means, her eyes got glassy. “Oh my gosh,” she says. “They are everything. You can’t do this without them. My mom rocks her to sleep so I can rest. My partner, my dad, my brother, they all take turns. Even my teammates. During training, someone holds her in a sling. Others take shifts. We are a team. I fight alone, but I am never alone.”
With all being said, Clarisse remains a realist. “I know I can’t do four years again. Two, maybe. That’s the plan. Then Los Angeles… I want to go there and come back with the gold back number, and finish on top. Let people remember me like that.”
Clarisse is more than her titles. She is proof that strength doesn’t mean being untouched by struggle or undefeated on the mat, it means moving forward with all of it. With the baby on your hip. With doubt in your head. With fire in your heart. She will take her time now to have a second baby, but remember, she is not done yet. The ultimate vision she carries is this: two babies and two Olympic gold medals. That is the chapter Clarisse Agbegnenou seeks to write next in the history books.
Images: Clarisse Agbegnenou / EJU
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