Axel Clerget

Axel Clerget (born February 28, 1987 ) is a French judoka . He was third in the 2018 and 2019 World Cup.

Athletic career

Axel Clerget competed in the light middleweight division from 2004 to 2011, the weight class up to 81 kilograms. In 2006 he won a bronze medal at the Junior World Championships in Santo Domingo. In 2007 and 2008 he won bronze at the U23 European Championships. At the European Championships in Tbilisi in 2009 , he defeated the British Euan Burton in the round of 16 and the German Ole Bischof in the quarter-finals . In the semifinals he was defeated by the Russian Ivan Nifontow and the subsequent battle for bronze against the Georgian Levan Tsiklauri was lost by Clerget, who finished fifth. In the same year he finished seventh at the World Championships in Rotterdam and fifth at the U23 European Championships. After two weaker years, he finished seventh at the European Championships in 2012 in Chelyabinsk.

In the summer of 2012, Clerget switched to middleweight, the weight class up to 90 kilograms. In 2013 he finished third at the Mediterranean Games in Mersin. In 2014 he won the African Open in Casblanca and in 2015 the European Open in Minsk. In 2016, Clerget took second place behind Serbian Aleksandar Kukolj at the Grand Slam tournament in Abu Dhabi, and five weeks later the Frenchman also lost the final at the Grand Slam tournament in Toikio against Kukolj. At the beginning of 2017 he was second behind the Chinese Cheng Xunzhao at the Grand Slam in Paris. At the 2017 European Championships in Warsaw he defeated the Estonian Mattias Kuusik in the round of 16 and the Serbian Nemanja Majdov in the quarter-finals . After his semi-final victory over the Russian Chussein Chalmursajew , he met Aleksandar Kukolj again in the final, who then also won the title. At the 2017 World Championships , Clerget was eliminated early against the Czech David Klammert , and at the 2018 European Championships he lost his first fight against the Russian Michail Igolnikow . The 2018 World Championships took place in Baku in September 2018 . Clerget defeated Chussein Chalmursajew in the second round and the Tajik Komronshokh Ustopiriyon in the quarterfinals . In the semifinals he was defeated by Cuban Iván Felipe Silva , the battle for bronze was won by Clerget against the German Eduard Trippel . At the beginning of 2019, Clerget won the Grand Prix tournament in Tel Aviv. The 2019 European Judo Championships took place as part of the 2019 European Games in Minsk. In the individual competition, Clerget was eliminated in the round of 16 against the Dutchman Noël van 't End , in the team competition the French team won a bronze medal. At the 2019 World Championships in Tokyo, Clerget defeated the Spanish defending champion Nikoloz Sherazadishvili in the second round . In the quarterfinals he lost to Noël van 't End. With wins over Mammadali Mehdiyev from Azerbaijan and Marcus Nyman from Sweden, Clerget won a bronze medal.

Web links

• Tournament results at judoinside.com

Footnotes

1. ↑ Match balance at judoinside.com