Paris (AFP)
The French basketball players will face the United States in the group stage of the Tokyo Olympics this summer (23 July-8 August), according to the draw made on Tuesday in Mies (Switzerland), at the headquarters of the International Federation. (Fiba).
The French women, silver medalists at the 2012 Olympics in London and 4th at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, find themselves in the same group as the United States, Japan, the host country, and the double African champions, Nigeria. .
The top two from each group and the top two thirds will advance to the quarter-finals.
The Americans are undefeated in official competitions since the semi-final of the 2006 World Cup, lost in September 2006 against Russia.
Since then, they have chained 57 straight wins.
They are six-fold reigning Olympic champions (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016).
In Tokyo, a draw will be made at the end of the group stage, to constitute the final table (quarters, semi-finals and final).
The first three and the best runner-up will be seeded, and two teams from the same group will not be able to compete in the quarter-finals.
Before the Tokyo Olympics-2020, postponed for one year until the summer of 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Endy Miyem's teammates will play the European Championship from June 17 to 27, co-organized between France and Spain.
The players of Valérie Garnier, who have won silver in the last four European Championships, will play their group stage and a possible quarter-final in Strasbourg.
The Spanish city of Valencia will host the other matches (group stage, quarter-finals, semi-final and final).
Composition of groups:
Group A: South Korea, Serbia, Canada, Spain
Group B: Nigeria, Japan, France, United States
Group C: Australia, Puerto Rico, China, Belgium
© 2021 AFP