David DOUILLET

David DOUILLET, the most well-known French judoka, is a very important man for me because he is a model for young people. I am going to explain why he is not a man like the others.

First of all he is a famous sportsman. He is the most titled athlete in the entire history of men's judo. He has been World Champion 4 times, Olympic Champion and European Champion 2 times in the heavyweight category and in the open weight category.

To have those medals, he started to do judo very young in Neufchatel en Bray where he was born in 1969. At 13 he was standing at 1,85 meters, so he was noticed and went in an athlete's sports section in Rennes. He stands now at 1,97 meters and is more than 100 Kg. In 1991 he was, for the first time, French Champion and earned a bronze medal in the Olympic Games in 1992. He has a will of iron because after a motorbike accident at the end of 1996 he succeeded in keeping his world medal in 1997 in Bercy in France. He decided to stop his career in 2000 after another Olympic gold medal.

David DOUILLET is great champion who can be very aggressive on the tatami, but he has a big heart and is very generous. I think we can compare this man to a bear, because he can be very dangerous in Judo and is a teddy bear with children. He has sponsored the collection of pieces jaunes for ten years for children's hospitals, because he was a young father and had an hospitalization after a motorbike accident.

He has always been close to young people. For example, he has participated in events to introduce the values of judo to prisoners in order to facilitate their reintegration, has given demonstrations in many clubs and he supports some projects of UNESCO's Education.

Finally, he has had the gratitude which is owing to him. He is the first sports person to be nominated UNESCO Champion and he has been the second preferred personality of French. He has his own video game that is a judo simulation and he endorses some sport equipment. He lives now with his three children and his wife.

To my mind he is really a model for young people and all sportsmen, because he is very good in sport, helps all people he can and makes children happy. To conclude, he is a great judoka with big heart.