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An Olympic destiny sometimes depends on little. Mamadassa Sylla was in principle to follow the TQO in Baku (Azerbaijan) from her sofa, the French clan having first bet on Gagik Snjoyan to win the quota in Greco-Roman in the -67kg category. But a last minute withdrawal from Snjoyan, fearing for his safety in Azerbaijan due to his Armenian origins, allowed Sylla to bravely play his luck this Friday, irresistible to reach the final and thus validate the precious Olympic sesame.
Moved to qualifying for Tokyo in 2021
The 30-year-old wrestler from Bagnolet will therefore discover the Games at the beginning of August in Paris, he who had stumbled on the last step of the Olympic qualification process in 2021 for the Tokyo Olympics (Japan). Without complex, Sylla first passed the first round without incident against the Finnish Matias Lipasti (11-1) before making his mark by crushing the Turkish Selcuk Can in the quarter-finals (8-1), European champion in title and double world medalist in -72 kg.
In the semi-finals, another client stood against him with the Pole Gevorg Sahakyan, double world medalist and European vice-champion in the category. The stakes were simple: a defeat would have forced him to go through the final TQO in Istanbul (Turkey) at the beginning of May, when a victory opened the Olympic door wide for him.
Sylla joins Larroque in Paris
The pressure was immense, the fight very tense, but at the end of the suspense Sylla overcame a three-point handicap to finally win (3-3), benefiting from the fact of having scored last. A victory experienced as a relief for the French clan, since Koumba Larroque was until now very alone since her qualification validated in September at the World Championships in Belgrade (Serbia).