What’s Up… Dex Elmont? (2017)

10/01/2026

[FRA – Cet article est une reprise de la version anglaise originale d’un papier publié au printemps 2017 sur l’ancienne version du site Internet du bimestriel français L’Esprit du judo. Il n’était plus visible depuis la mise à jour dudit site à l’automne 2020. Le voici à nouveau.

ENG – This article is a reprint of the original English version of a piece published in spring 2017 on the former version of the French bimonthly L’Esprit du judo’s website. It was no longer visible since the update of said site in autumn 2020. Here it is again.]

Montpellier, April 25, 2014. Eight months after his father’s death and three months after his daughter’s birth, the triple world medallist wins at 30 his first and only senior continental title.©Paco Lozano/JudoAKD

Yesterday, today and tomorrow seen by the Dutch neo-retiree

The curtain falls on the long and rich sporting career of Daxenos « Dex » Elmont. Born January 10, 1984 in Rotterdam (Netherlands), World medallist in 2010, 2011 and 2013, European champion in 2014 and 5th at the London Olympics, the 33-year-old Dutchman hung up his judogi in autumn 2016. World No. 1 in the U73kg category from November 2014 to May 2015, Maarten Arens’ student at Kenamju Haarlem will remain in the memory of EDJ readers as that insurmountable wall who stood in the way of rising star Ugo Legrand during at least three key moments of the French golden boy’s short-lived career (2011 Worlds, 2012 Olympics, 2014 Europeans). Reputed to be one of the most intelligent fighters on the circuit due to his ability to adapt to the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses, the younger of the Elmont brothers – Guillaume, three years his senior, was U81kg world champion in 2005 – a medical student in civilian life, reflects here on a career that ends at the precise moment when Dutch judo enters the delicate transition to centralization… May History remember that before receiving his first patients, the future Doctor Elmont was for a long time quite a formidable client.

Update January 2026: now father of three, Dex Elmont works since 2025 as occupational health physician in Haarlem. He stays fit but doesn’t find time for judo training. His brother Guillaume is Director of Elite Sports at Judo Bond Nederland since May 2025. – JudoAKDReplay#010.

A French version of this article is available here.

You announced your retirement on November 30, 2016. Was this decision difficult to make?

I withdrew from professional judo because the time had come. I once said that I would stop in 2008 after the Beijing Games, so this decision goes back a long way. In the end I’m happy I didn’t stop at that time since my best years were actually ahead of me.

Why now, then?

Several reasons prompted me to stop. First, I have two wonderful children. The impact of judo on my life as well as theirs was becoming increasingly difficult to balance. Then I’m now 33 years old. I couldn’t see myself continuing to compete for another four years and still being at the top for Tokyo 2020. Finally, I’m also stopping because of my studies. In 2017 I started my Master’s in medicine. This involves working at the hospital every day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., which is difficult to reconcile with the demands of a high-level career. With all that put together, the decision made itself.

During the Sochi training camp in July 2015 [cf. EDJ61], your older brother Guillaume, who also retired three months later following an injury, told me while doing uchi-komi that he was already aware he was experiencing his « last training camps, last European Championships, last World Championships, etc. » Did you feel the same sort of melancholy in the months leading up to Rio?

I knew these would be my last Games and that the end was near, but the exact date wasn’t yet set. I only decided to make the best of each situation, to train hard and to enjoy everything that would happen in that last year. My only regret is not having had this approach from the first day I started competing internationally. It’s so good to travel, to train and to experience adventures with your friends…

In the statement announcing your retirement, you wrote that judo had represented almost 100% of your daily life until then: two training sessions a day, eating, sleeping, etc. What is your daily life like today?

From the moment I stopped judo, my daily life changed completely. I became more involved in raising my two children, and judo is clearly no longer my priority… Moreover, in early 2015, I had problems with my vestibular system and my hearing. This led me to consult at three different hospitals, and to this day no solution has been found. So I decided not to put on a judogi again until I feel physically better.

You also announced that you would continue with « another white coat »…

Actually, this other white coat refers to my studies, since I’m planning to become a doctor in the near future. I still don’t know what my specialty will be, but several interest me: general practitioner, rehabilitation, anesthesiologist… Ideally, I’d like to graduate before the start of the Tokyo Games.

You’re not the only Dutch judoka to pursue both a career and lengthy studies…

Indeed, I’m not the first. Elisabeth Willeboordse and Jeroen Mooren completed their medical studies, my brother Guillaume has a degree in psychology, etc. In the Netherlands, the system doesn’t help athletes much, and even less so judokas. There’s much more money in football, speed skating and hockey, for example. In judo, there aren’t many opportunities or money to hope for in the long term. As soon as you finish your career, you’re left on your own.

In France, we hear all sorts of things about the reorganization of Dutch judo at the beginning of this olympiad. What exactly is happening?

Over the past twenty-five years, the Netherlands has had a solid talent base. But we’ve never had a large selection like France, Japan, Korea or Russia. The new system seeks to have everyone in the same place with the best equipment, in order to bring more people to a high level of judo. Ultimately we’d like to have a larger selection. If we want to be successful in the future, we need to make changes. I’m not claiming this is the right one. I’m just saying we’ll take stock in eight years.

Do you see the new generation of Dutch judokas achieving this?

Being out of the game now, I think the road to Tokyo will first be a matter of individual choices with some common intersections. The cards have been reshuffled and everyone must find their own path. Once again, it’s too early to draw conclusions. I simply hope we’ll see Dutch medals in Tokyo!

During the joint interview we did in 2011 with your brother [cf. EDJ33], you both said that you had two dreams left to accomplish at that point in your careers: either to be medallists in the three major competitions (Olympics, World Championships, European Championships), or for both of you to win a competition on the same day. At retirement, you will have achieved neither. No regrets on that front?

Of course, I would have liked to have had an Olympic medal. Now I think that no matter how brilliant your career or how many medals you’ve won, because in the end everyone goes through the experience of that fight or that specific moment where, afterwards, you know you could have done better. So as the wise Cor van der Geest says: « Don’t make the mistake of only thinking about victory, first savor the journey that brings you closer to it. »

Ugo Legrand and Dex Elmont, a classic of the U73kg final block for four years, as here in Montpellier, in the final of the 2014 European Championships – a duel that would once again turn in the Dutchman’s favor.©Paco Lozano/JudoAKD

In France you’re also known as the man who shattered Ugo Legrand’s golden dreams three times: on a decision in the semi-final of the 2011 World Championships in Paris, then with two pure judo throws in the quarter-finals in London in 2012 and then in the final of the 2014 European Championships in Montpellier. You end your career with a 5-0 record in your head-to-heads. And as fate would have it, Ugo announced his retirement on October 8, 2015, the same day as your brother Guillaume. What do you take away from your rivalry?

As for Ugo, it’s true that we fought often and that I beat him a few times [Ugo did win once, during the Lords of the Games, a gala evening organized on March 24, 2013 at the Zénith d’Orléans offering rematches of certain duels from the London Olympics, editor’s note]. Most of our encounters were big fights and I have the greatest respect for the judoka he was. I did beat him in London but afterwards he recovered, got his ideas back in order and went on to win the bronze. He also beat opponents that I personally found very tough. I still remember how he became European champion in 2012, he made it look so easy… Our semi-final in Paris in 2011 was very close. I had already prepared myself to fight for bronze because I thought that, being in France, the referees would favor a Frenchman. You can actually read the surprise on my face when they declared me the winner… As for the announcement of his retirement, I only found out much later. Somehow I wasn’t very surprised. In the preceding months, Ugo seemed tired and his mind was elsewhere. I think he did the right thing and I hope he has a good life now.

In the quarter-finals of the 2013 World Championships, you came very close to beating the Japanese Shohei Ono, moving him like almost no one has managed to do since. Can you tell us your version of that epic fight? Wasn’t one of your mistakes in the tactical management of the last minute wanting to referee yourself?

Our 2013 encounter was very strange. I was leading by yuko and Ono made an illegal action by passing his head under my arm, but he wasn’t penalized for it. That frustrated me. The pressure increased and he equalized. But there was still time left and I was still two shidos ahead. There’s a lot to say about the outcome but the referee – or rather the central table – made a big mistake in my opinion by giving me the second shido with a few seconds remaining… In golden score, I went all out on an attack and Ono countered me legitimately. There was nothing to complain about.

It was also your fourth consecutive defeat in major championships against a Japanese fighter…

The Japanese and me… Yes, they beat me several times at key moments: two World Championship finals, the Olympic semi-final and that fight in Rio 2013. They managed to fight at a higher tempo than mine, which often cost me a shido that forced me to open up. And I made the mistake of fighting Japanese-style against them, when I should have fought European-style, meaning more physical.

*Montpellier, April 25, 2014, European Championships final (bis). By attacking during Ugo Legrand’s guard recovery attack, Dex Elmont scores* ippon on the Frenchman and claims his first – and only – gold in a senior major championship, eleven years after his junior European title. « It was a long road, » he later told EDJ’s microphone.©Paco Lozano/JudoAKD

You had won all the European and World medals except gold when you won the 2014 European Championships in Montpellier…

Montpellier will remain a very beautiful day for me! Finally I won that gold medal I thought I had deserved for a long time, particularly given my three World medals. The thing is that in judo nothing is ever guaranteed – except the fact that Riner wins everything [Laughs]. To win gold you just need to win all your fights in one day, and that’s what happened in Montpellier.

Did you reach the peak of your career that day?

To be honest, I don’t know. Of course I experienced all sorts of things in major championships, but in the end I’ll remember first the adventures I was able to experience with my friends. That’s what I think will remain most important. When you eat, sleep and train with people, you really get to know them. And we also shared some hell of a parties together [Laughs].

Still in our 2011 interview, you said that since your beginnings your parents had forbidden you from competing in the same category, you and your brother. How would you describe all those years you spent together on the circuit?

Guillaume and I shared very good times together. And I think that all those moments, all those adventures, all those experiences we lived through are today more precious to me than all the medals I won. You can see a smile appear on my face at the mere mention of an anecdote from that time…

*Three decades of complicity and life experiences for the Elmont Brothers©Archives Guillaume Elmont/JudoAKD*

I remember Guillaume coming to you in the mixed zone in 2010 in Tokyo and giving you a long and silent hug for your silver medal at the World Championships…

For me the most difficult moments remain our respective defeats at the Olympics, him in Beijing then me in London. In both cases we were beaten in the semi-finals then in the fight for bronze. In Beijing I didn’t know how to comfort him after his elimination, but I still remember how his pain affected me too. I think he felt the same thing for me in London… In Tokyo, indeed, I felt very sad after my defeat in the final. My brother then came to join me in the mixed zone. He had a huge smile and told me he was proud of me. His words meant so much to me that I went from sadness to euphoria in an instant. Really, the relationship we have, him and me, is something unique. We were « blessed » to share so many moments together, on and around the tatami.

During the same 2011 interview, your brother said that the international calendar made it impossible for you to visit Suriname, your parents’ native country, as often as you would like. And Guillaume also recalled that the judo calendar was modeled on tennis. However, in tennis, accommodations exist depending on age in particular, which probably allowed Serena Williams and Roger Federer, aged 34 and 35 respectively, to win the 2017 Australian Open. Based on your years of experience on the circuit, what do you think would improve the calendar and allow profiles like yours to go more often to their grandparents’ country, or even to compete beyond 35?

There’s a big difference between tennis and judo: money. So even if my body were capable of competing at that age, the economic benefits are not beneficial for my future anyway. In life you have to make choices. Judo is becoming a full-time job. Today either you dedicate yourself to it 100%, or you do something else.

Do you have any ideas for improvements?

Regarding the circuit, I think it would be useful to require a minimum level to participate in a Grand Slam or Grand Prix. In recent years, there’s been a gap between quantity and quality at Grand Slams and Grand Prix. Paris and Düsseldorf maintain a high standard on both fronts but that’s far from being the case everywhere else. Now I’m telling you this but concretely I don’t know how it should be done…

Your father was also a champion [he competed for Suriname at the Montreal Games in 1976, editor’s note]. Guillaume and you are fathers now. Is it conceivable to see a new generation of Elmonts on the mat soon?

My children can become whatever they want. However, I would like them to do judo for at least four years, so they learn the basic values of this sport. After that, no matter what they do, I’ll always be proud of them. Maybe they’ll become successful musicians…

One day [cf. EDJ29] your brother Guillaume told me that the Elmont Brothers would only reveal the secret of their morote when you were done with your respective competitive careers. Well, it seems the time has come, hasn’t it?

You’ll have to ask our children now [Laughs]. – Interview by Anthony Diao, spring 2017. Opening picture: ©Paco Lozano/JudoAKD.

A French version of this article is available here.

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