Champions Train with Technogym: Madeleine Malonga
Pure Strength elite: the Technogym line devised for athletes is the choice of Madeleine Malonga, doyenne of the French judo team and silver medal winner at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
From Paris… to Paris! There are just a few kilometres (and six months) between the Champ de Mars Arena – the temporary structure that will host Olympic judo and wrestling – and the Accor Arena, which was the venue in February for the 50th Judo Grand Slam: one of the sport’s top international tournaments. The City of Light already boasts a strong judo tradition and now it’s been given a fresh burst of life, thanks in particular to the all-female trio of Amandine Buchard, Shirine Boukli and doyenne Madeleine Malonga.
Born on the outskirts of Paris on 25 December 1993, Madeleine Malonga has loved judo ever since she was a little girl. It all stems from the distinctive blend of crucial characteristics for a judoka: concentration, rigour and the ability to use your strength sparingly. She says that her first memory – and the first emotional experience she remembers sharing with her sister, to whom she is very close – is David Douillet winning an Olympic gold at Sydney 2000 (+100 kg category).
Her rise to the top ever since has seen her being crowned World Champion in 2019, and claiming a silver medal in 2021 and a bronze medal in 2024. She’s also a dominant player on the European scene, winning gold medals in 2018 and 2020, as well as a bronze in 2019. Malonga’s prowess is underlined by triumphs at prestigious events such as the Paris Grand Slam and the Zagreb GP. Madeleine made her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, where she won a silver medal, losing in the 78 kg category final to Japan’s Shori Hamada.
This year Madeleine is ready to head back out onto the tatami with her aggressive, technical fighting style. Thanks to her deft throwing and pinning, she has excelled and beaten highly accomplished opponents.
The key to Madeleine Malonga’s fighting style lies in training sessions focusing on her lower body. Indeed, Madeleine’s favourite piece of Technogym fitness equipment is Pure Hack Squat, a machine that takes advantage of a wide load range and loading and de-loading elastic band anchors to adapt resistance and perform multiple variations of squats and lunges. Using Technogym’s plate-loaded Pure Strength range, you can do strength training with painstaking precision and achieve goals that would make an Olympic athlete proud.
