Paris Saint-Germain Judo presents its new signings

Paris Saint-Germain Judo is delighted to announce that Margaux Pinot, Walide Khyar, Luka Mkheidze and Aleksa Mitrovic have joined Les Rouge et Bleu.

After welcoming Damiano Martinuzzi into the coaching staff, the capital club has bolstered its squad ahead of a 2023–2024 season in which it will compete in the Champions League in December and in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris next summer.

Paris’s four new athletes join a group of world-class judokas that already includes Amandine Buchard, Marie-Ève Gahié, Romane Dicko, Alpha Djalo, Alexis Mathieu and Teddy Riner.

Margaux Pinot (-70kg)
The Besançon native recently took home the Tel Aviv Grand Slam after picking up gold at the Paris Grand Slam last year. The left-hander, who is ranked 11^th in the world in her weight category, was also crowned an Olympic champion in the mixed team event in Tokyo in 2021, alongside three of the club’s other athletes: Amandine Buchard, Romane Dicko and Teddy Riner. In addition, Pinot is a two-time European champion, having been victorious in 2019 and 2020.

Luka Mkheidze (-60kg)
Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Mkheidze was France’s first medal winner at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, when he picked up bronze in the -60kg category. The 27-year-old right-hander also came out on top at the Antalya Grand Slam in Turkey and at the Tel Aviv Grand Slam in Israel this year, on top of finishing as the runner-up at the 2021 European Judo Championships in Lisbon, Portugal.

Walide Khyar (-66kg)
Khyar is currently ranked fifth in the world in his weight category. The 28-year-old right-hander won a bronze medal at the recent Judo World Championships in Doha as well as a gold medal at the European Judo Championships in 2016, a year in which he also took part in the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Aleksa Mitrovic (-90kg)
Promising 21-year-old Aleksa Mitrovic currently plies his trade in the -90kg category. He was a runner-up in the mixed team event at the 2022 World Judo Championships as well as a bronze-medal winner in the men’s individual event at the World Judo Juniors Championships in the same year.

“We’re very proud to welcome these four new athletes to Paris Saint-Germain Judo. They have already proven the extent of their talent on the world stage and will bolster our already elite-level squad. These signings will strengthen our ambitions for the upcoming season, which will be an extraordinary one both for judo and for French sport in general with the Olympic Games in Paris. There will be plenty of big occasions to come for our athletes and for the club, including the Champions League, which we’re hoping to add to Paris Saint-Germain’s list of honours in December.”
Djamel Bouras, President of Paris Saint-Germain Judo