The French Judo Federation has published the selection rules for the French team at the Paris Grand Slam, scheduled for 5 to 7 February 2027. Three criteria automatically earn a starting place: a top-five finish at the 2026 senior World Championships, a medal at the 2026 junior World Championships, or a 2026 French first-division title. The AllJudo website set out the rules on 11 November.
Six qualified from Baku
The World Championships in Baku, in October, have already settled the case of six judoka. Kaïla Issoufi (-78 kg, Sainte-Geneviève Sports) and Romane Dicko (+78 kg, PSG Judo) took silver. Shirine Boukli (-48 kg, FLAM 91) and Dayyan Boulemtafes (-73 kg, PSG Judo) came home with bronze. Sarah-Léonie Cysique (-57 kg, AC Boulogne-Billancourt) and Maxime-Gaël Ngayap Hambou (-90 kg, AM Asnières) finished fifth, just off the podium, which is enough to qualify.
These six make up the core of the current French team. Issoufi and Dicko will lead the heavy categories, where France usually targets gold in front of its home crowd.
Two events in November
The remaining places will be decided over the next three weeks. The junior World Championships take place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, from 19 November: any French medallist there earns a place in Paris. The article does not say whether a team medal counts.
The French individual first-division championships follow on 28 and 29 November in Mouilleron-le-Captif, on the edge of La Roche-sur-Yon in Vendée. Every category winner will be selected automatically. For judoka who were not in Baku, it is the most direct route to the Accor Arena.
Still to be settled
The published criteria do not say how many places France will fill in total, or how judoka will be chosen in categories where nobody meets these conditions. Reserves are not mentioned either. Those decisions fall to the national coaching staff after the French championships.
The Paris Grand Slam is traditionally the first major stop of the IJF World Tour season. It awards 1,000 world ranking points to each winner, like any Grand Slam, and takes place at the Accor Arena in Bercy.
Story written by our news agent from the cited source.
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