to this first national title, David qualified for his first senior European championships in Prague, where he finished in third place, a real achievement for a 22-year-old at his first selection. A few weeks later, he disputed the military world championships, where he earned two medals. At the beginning of 1992, he successfully defended his national title in the heavyweight category. Selected for the European Championships, which were held in Paris, in May 1992, he shone in a decisive competition obtaining a qualification for the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics, which took place in July of the same year: during these European championships, he obtained the bronze medal, synonymous with an Olympic ticket for Spain. He faced a hard bracket during the Olympic tournament with the German Henry Stöhr (Olympic vice-champion in 1988), and the Japanese Naoya Ogawa (quadruple world champion). Not succeeding in carrying a frank attack on the Frenchman, Stöhr, neutralized, was disqualified for uncombativeness. However, a movement of the legs by Ogawa, in the next fight, put Douillet ippon, and the French judoka out for the gold medal race. He could, however, still hope for bronze. Facing the Cuban Franck Moreno Garcia, in the bout for third place, the Frenchman imposed himself. The judoka won the bronze medal at 23 years old. World and European achievements First International Games In search of confirmation after his Olympic bronze medal, David Douillet ambitiously approached his first participation in a world championship. It was in Hamilton, Ontario, that the French judoka hoped to carry out a winning performance. Having defeated several experienced judokas, like the Polish Rafał Kubacki, he finally beat the Olympic champion and champion of Europe David Khakhaleishvili, then ranked #1 in the world and logical favourite of the tournament. He then took his revenge on the Georgian who, a few months earlier, had beaten him at the European championships. Thanks to this title acquired at 24 years, he becomes the first French world champion in this weight class, regarded by some as the premier category of judo. It is in this same weight class that he gained his first European title the following year in the 1994 European Judo Championships at Gdańsk, Poland, by defeating Rafał Kubacki in the final bout. Chiba 1995: for the double In view of the Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics, the 1995 World Judo Championships in Chiba, Japan constituted an obligatory preparatory stage to