France stunned as judo star’s coach cleared of domestic violence

French sports stars and politicians person expressed choler astatine the acquittal of a manager accused of home unit against the Olympic judo champion Margaux Pinot, arsenic the authorities authoritative launched an appeal.

Pinot, 27, a golden medallist astatine the Tokyo Olympics, had superior facial injuries including a fractured chemoreceptor erstwhile she filed a constabulary ailment successful the aboriginal hours of Sunday. She said her spouse and trainer, Alain Schmitt, had attacked her astatine her level extracurricular Paris, wrestled her to the ground, verbally abused her, punched her galore times, repeatedly smashed her caput connected to the crushed and tried to strangle her.

Pinot said she managed to flight the flat with the assistance of neighbours and called police. Officers arrested and questioned Schmitt that night.

The lawsuit was fast-tracked to a tribunal proceeding connected Tuesday wherever Schmitt, 38, denied the allegations. The authorities authoritative requested a one-year suspended condemnation for what they deemed “very superior violence”. But the justice decided determination was not “enough impervious of guilt” for the prosecution to proceed. “A tribunal is ne'er determination to archer who is telling the information and who is lying,” the justice said.

Schmitt told the tribunal that helium denied the allegations “100%” and that it had been a combat betwixt lovers, started by Pinot.

Pinot posted a representation of her swollen, injured look connected societal media. She talked of the “blood crossed the level of my apartment” and said: “What was missing? My decease astatine the end, perhaps? It’s astir apt judo that saved maine and my thoughts spell retired to different women who cannot accidental the same.”

Schmitt, with bruising astir his eye, gave a property league wherever helium said helium felt helium had been enactment connected proceedings by societal media. He said Pinot was lying and helium denied each of the allegations. He said they had had an argument, that Pinot had punched him and pushed him into a doorway and that arsenic helium had tried to get distant they had bumped into a partition and a radiator. He said she had made him autumn connected her. His lawyer said Pinot had “behavioural problems”.

He said: “In my life, I’ve ne'er punched anyone … It’s not imaginable for maine to person punched idiosyncratic and they ran distant and I caught up with them – it’s not possible. And each of that aft I supposedly pushed her caput into the ground? It’s a gag … She’s lying of course.”

He added: “She jumped connected maine and grabbed maine by the collar. I moved back, she pushed maine against a doorframe. I banged my head. I got up a spot dazed. She punched maine and it escalated. We banged into walls, a radiator, a door.”

Pinot and her lawyer past gave their ain property league where, with bruising crossed her face, she recounted her mentation of the night’s events and described however she had thought she was going to die. “He grabbed maine by the hair, pulled maine to the ground, got astride maine and started to propulsion retired my hairsbreadth and bang my caput connected the ground. He wanted to strangle me,” Pinot said.

She said she thought to herself she had to find a mode to get retired of the flat “otherwise I’ll die”. She said of his property league that helium was lying and trying to marque retired she was a “hysterical woman”.

Alain Schmitt astatine a property league successful Paris connected Wednesday. Photograph: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty Images

Pinot has described a narration of controlling behaviour and verbal abuse. Schmitt did not privation their narration to beryllium known about, she said, and helium often verbally abused her, saying her vocation would spell obscurity and criticising her personality. Pinot said the weekend’s onslaught began with Schmitt making belittling comments. She said she laic connected her furniture with fingers successful her ears not to perceive it, and past the blows started. She said helium had connected erstwhile occasions smashed things successful her apartment.

Her lawyer said neighbours heard Pinot’s screams for assistance and took her into their flat.

The sports minister, Roxana Mărăcineanu, said she supported Pinot, “who for maine is intelligibly the unfortunate successful what has happened”. The French judo stars Teddy Riner and Clarisse Agbégnénou besides publically backed Pinot. Riner said determination should beryllium much enactment for victims.

Pinot besides had the enactment of the French judo federation, which said it was shocked by her injuries.

The politician of Paris and Socialist statesmanlike candidate, Anne Hidalgo, backed Pinot, arsenic did different statesmanlike campaigner connected the left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon.