Paris Grand Slam: Priscilla Gneto disqualified after dropping her smartphone
Incredible ! And yet true. In the middle of the -57 kg semi-final of the Paris Tournament, against the Japanese Momo Tamaoki, Priscilla Gneto’s mobile phone fell out of her kimono! Synonym of defeat by disqualification. The French managed to get back in the saddle to get the bronze against the Mongolian Lkhagvatogoo, this Saturday in Paris. And she didn’t shy away from facing the press: “Overall, apart from this incident, I had a good day, I was able to express myself. I would have gone without the phone call. It happened, I can’t do anything about it. Next time, I will touch my pockets well before getting on the tatami.
How is such an incident possible at this level for an experienced athlete (30 years old)? “At the time, I was shocked myself, she attributed with rare frankness. I still fought for a minute and a half with the phone in the kimono. I was so focused in my competition. I followed the thread of the competition on my phone. They called me, I had the reflex to put it in my kimono. As there was still one game left, I think the coaches wanted to let me take the time to concentrate and we will have a discussion afterwards.
However, the bronze medalist at the 2012 Olympics (in -52 kg) managed to stay in her competition to finish on the -57 kg podium: “These are the vagaries of life. I was not going to stay on a phone call and 5th! It happened, at the time we ignore it, there is a third place to go for, to bring back to the team, that’s all I had in mind. Now that it’s over, I’ll rehash. »
Objective European Championships
After this dumpling, the 2017 European champion of -57 kg had: “It was really to myself that I wanted to prove things because I put things in place. In this category, beyond the French, there is a crazy level. It is therefore important to integrate oneself on one’s personal performance. After the rest, we’ll see. »
The following are the European Championships in particular (at the end of April in Bulgaria) and the Worlds (in October in Uzbekistan). “The objective is to get a selection for these two meetings”, Priscilla Gneto agreed, “and after winning but on a big team, it’s not won. Each competition is important, you have to show yourself”. Other than on his improbable incident which should earn him reprimands from the national staff. “Honestly yes and it would be deserved. I would be teased by everyone for a long time but here it is, it happened. »