1. David Douillet is a four-time judo world champion and one-time European champion.
29 Facts About David Douillet
1. 2.
David Douillet was elected deputy to the French National Assembly on 18 October 2009 and on 26 September 2011 became the new Sports Minister until May 2012.
3.
David Douillet began judo at age 11, in the commune of Neufchatel-en-Bray, near his birthplace of Rouen.
4.
In 1986, when David Douillet was 17, he was noticed during a demonstration by Jean-Luc Rouge who brought him into the INSEP.
5.
David Douillet was already heads above the others, and after what was seen on the mat, I immediately reserved a place for him; at INSEP, the center of the elite of the French athletics.
6.
David Douillet faced a hard bracket during the Olympic tournament with the German Henry Stohr, and the Japanese Naoya Ogawa.
7.
In search of confirmation after his Olympic bronze medal, David Douillet ambitiously approached his first participation in a world championship.
8.
David Douillet then took his revenge on the Georgian who, a few months earlier, had beaten him at the European championships.
9.
Three days later, David Douillet repeated his performance in the open category, by beating in the final the Russian Sergei Kossorotov by an pin.
10.
Furthermore, with his double win, David Douillet entered the history books of judo, becoming the third judoka to carry out this exploit after Yasuhiro Yamashita in 1981 and Naoya Ogawa in 1989.
11.
David Douillet passed the first matches without difficulties by eliminating the Belgian Van Barneveld, the Luxembourger Muller, and the Austrian Krieger.
12.
David Douillet had to wait until 1997 to claim his proper Olympic medal that he won the previous year.
13.
On 30 September 1996, two months after the Olympic title captured in Atlanta, David Douillet was seriously injured in the calf and the right shoulder in a motorbike accident.
14.
David Douillet made a good show and earned a medal by defeating the European champion, Selim Tataroglu.
15.
David Douillet had a sub-par performance there, taking only seventh place, letting his main competitors gain the podium.
16.
However, David Douillet underwent a large disappointment, being forced to withdraw two days before the beginning of the competition because of a groin strain.
17.
In spite of the doubts concerning his physical condition, David Douillet was present in Sydney, Australia, for the opening ceremonies of the 2000 Summer Olympics.
18.
On 22 September 2000, the judo tournament started, and David Douillet entered the heavyweight competition to try to become the most titled Judoka in history.
19.
Again David Douillet passed this round thanks to the disqualification of his adversary.
20.
That game is seen as a revenge of the 1997 World Judo Championships finals, where David Douillet had beaten the Japanese heavyweight.
21.
David Douillet is one of the five male judokas to have gained two Olympic titles, but thanks to his bronze medal obtained in 1992 in Barcelona, he is the only one besides Nomura and Angelo Parisi to have gained three Olympic medals.
22.
David Douillet is one of the only two judokas who own three world champion titles in the heavyweight class, the other being Yasuhiro Yamashita.
23.
David Douillet fought against doping and joined, in 1999, the council of martial arts and prevention against doping.
24.
Generous as a sportsman, David Douillet put his popularity at the service of charitable operations.
25.
Since the end of his sporting career, David Douillet has tried to manage his image as well as possible.
26.
David Douillet participates in the preparation of rebroadcasts of events like the Olympic Games, or the 24 Hours of Le Mans, on premium cable television.
27.
David Douillet took part in Season 12 of the French adaptation of "Dancing with the Stars" where he was teamed up with professional dancer Katrina Patchett.
28.
David Douillet was a candidate for the UMP center-right political party in the by-election of 11 and 18 October 2009 in the 12th constituency of the Yvelines department.
29.
On 29 June 2011, David Douillet was appointed Secretary of State in charge of French nationals abroad in the Francois Fillon cabinet.