The Olympic champion who denounces sexist violence after a controversial acquittal: "Does she need to die?"

The world of French judo showed its dismay on Wednesday after the case of sexist violence suffered by the Olympic champion Margaux Pinot, who denounced her partner, the former judoka and former coach of the French women's team Alain Schmitt, acquitted for lack of evidence.

The reported assault took place on Saturday night and the acquittal was pronounced on Tuesday by the Bobigny Correctional Court, which said it did not have sufficient evidence to prove his guilt.

That ruling made this Wednesday that Pinot, a medalist in Tokyo with the French mixed team, published an explanation of what happened on social networks and posted a photo of himself with a numb face and traces of blood.

The 27-year-old judoka complained that her partner's "slanderous defense" was above her injuries and "the blood on the floor of the apartment."

"What was missing, death maybe? Judo is probably what saved me. I think of those who can't say the same," she wrote on Twitter.

Well-known French judokas also used the networks to transmit a common message of support and denounce the court's decision, which has been appealed by the prosecution. Among them, a legend from the Gallic country like Teddy Riner: "What must be done so that the victims are heard? Every day women, children or the most vulnerable face violence, whether physical or moral. It is intolerable."

In that message, also published by other members of the French team, such as Alexandre Iddir or Axel Clerget, it is stressed that the fight against gender violence must become a priority. "We must better accompany and protect the victims... It is a matter of life or death," added Riner, who shared Pinot's photo and stressed that "everyone is deeply affected by what his companion has just suffered." .

At the same time, Schmitt asked today in an interview in the sports newspaper L'Équipe that the judicial decision be respected. "I'm tired of the slander. I thought that once justice was pronounced they would leave me alone. (...) I receive messages of intimidation, death threats," said the athlete, who this month announced that he had accepted a position as coach of the Israeli women's team and on the night of the events she was about to travel to that country.

L'Équipe published a photo of him with a black eye and it highlights that the relationship with Pinot was "quite complicated": "He doesn't know how to control his emotions," he said in that newspaper, while in the audience, according to Ouest France, he pointed out that he had never hit a woman.