Paris Saint-Germain Judo

First established in September 1992 on the initiative of former judoka Thierry Rey and with the financial support of then Paris Saint-Germain owners Canal+, PSG Judo was the first section of the club to win a continental trophy.

Led by star judokas David Douillet, Cécile Nowak, Djamel Bouras and Frédéric Demontfaucon, the Parisian team clinched the Champions League in 1995 and the French 1st Division Senior Championships in 1997.

After that, however, the club experienced a steep decline, leading to Canal+'s disengagement in 2002 before finally cutting ties all together with PSG in 2003 and continuing life as Paris Judo under new owners Lagardère Group.

He also confirmed the signing of French judoka star Teddy Riner as the figurehead of the project, while Djamel Bouras and Nicolas Mossion were appointed president and head coach, respectively.

Then, both sides won the Europa League in 2021, as well as back-to-back French 1st Division Championships in 2022 and 2023, making PSG the first club to achieve the male-female double at national and international level.

[1][2] PSG Judo president Djamel Bouras, star judoka Teddy Riner and representatives of parent club Paris Saint-Germain's other sporting sections came together to inaugurate it in October 2018.

Created a year earlier after bringing together several Parisian clubs, Alliance 77 was the brainchild of its president Thierry Rey, a former judoka and 1980 Olympic champion turned judo consultant on Canal+.

[15][16] Olympic gold medalist and world champion Cécile Nowak, Laurence Sionneau and Karine Petit joined the women's side, while French international judokas Nasser Néchar, Philippe Démarche and Bertrand Amoussou-Guenou were the big signings of the men's outfit.

In February 1993, Rey and PSG organized the 22nd edition of the Grand Slam Paris at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin, welcoming the elite of world judo and fielding nine of the club's judokas.

In March 1994, as part of president Thierry Rey's jubilee, PSG won the Capitals tournament ahead of German outfit Abensberg, confirming their continental ambitions.

With both teams level in the final, the men's title slipped away from the capital club in the tie-breaking match as Nasser Néchar lost to Orléans' Laurent Calléja.

Following their success against hosts Abensberg in the semifinals, the Parisians defeated Ukrainian side Taifun Dnipro in the final and became the third French club to win the Champions League after Orléans and Racing.

Weakened by long-term injury absentee Douillet, involved in a serious motorcycle accident, current holders PSG then failed to defend their European crown, finishing fourth behind Orléans in the final four organized by the club at the Stade Pierre de Coubertin.

[20] 1998 saw a decline in fortune for the club, with an injury-riddled Douillet, Karine Petit's departure from a PSG women's side lacking in ambition, and the two-year suspension of Bouras in April by the doping commission of the French Judo Federation.

Some good news were a fourth-consecutive continental semifinal, despite the absence of Douillet due to a wrist injury, and the new-found facilities at L'Aquaboulevard de Paris, a dojo finally worthy of the club's standing.

The club heavily relied on him since new recruits Franck Bellard and Karim Boumedjane were unavailable and Douillet was out through injury, but Bouras refused to fight claiming angina as the team finished third.

The section existed already between 1992 and 2003, and boasted the likes of Olympic champions David Douillet and Djamel Bouras as well as a young Teddy Riner, who rose through the ranks of the Parisians.

[1][15] This first iteration of PSG Judo shone on the domestic and continental tatami mats in the 1990s, with the men's team winning the Champions League in 1995 and the French 1st Division Senior Championships in 1997.

The other judokas contacted to join him in the new Parisian project were not convinced by the proposed contractual conditions: one-year fixed-term contracts, accompanied by unattractive salaries (less than 4,000 euros a month).

[20][32] 2020–21 saw the arrivals of Marie-Ève Gahié,[33] Romane Dicko,[33] Alpha Oumar Djalo,[34] Luca Otmane,[35] and Amandine Buchard,[36] all of whom helped the male and female teams finish third at the French 1st Division Senior Championships.

[39] Ushered by Teddy Riner, together with newcomers Dicko, Buchard and Otmane, PSG returned to the European stage in 2021–22 and claimed an unprecedented double at the Europa League in December 2021.

[17][28][38] PSG's men and women teams won their finals, respectively against Russian side UWS Yekaterinburg (5–0) and Swiss outfit SGS Sports (4–1), and hence clinched a spot in next year's Champions League.

[43][44] Ahead of the 2022–23 campaign, PSG announced contract extensions for several of their key martial artists, including flagship judoka Teddy Riner (2024),[45] Romane Dicko (2025),[46] Marie-Ève Gahié (2024),[47] Alpha Oumar Djalo (2024),[48] Arnaud Aregba (2023),[49] Faïza Mokdar (2024),[50] and Luca Otmane (2024).