Tokyo (AFP)
The French Laetitia Guapo, Migna Touré, Marie-Ève Paget, Ana-Maria Filip, beaten by China (16-14) in the match for third place, failed to get bronze in 3x3 basketball, which was making its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games on Wednesday.
The Blue, who had previously been beaten by the United States (18-16) in the semifinals, thus missed two opportunities to win a medal, in the dampness of the Aomi Urban Sports Park.
They were unable to recover after the frustrating setback conceded earlier against Team USA, who will try to glean the first gold medal in history in the final against the Russians.
Against the Chinese who had already beaten them (20-13) in a group match, the Blue have always chased after the score.
And only Migna Touré (8 pts) was able to maintain the suspense, without them managing to find a second wind in the last moments when they had reattached to two lengths.
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They had a chance to equalize with a shot from behind the arc, but Paget missed his pass to Guapo with two seconds left.
The French, who were among the contenders for the final victory, given their status of world No. 1 according to the classification of the International Basketball Federation (Fiba), will not have seen the El Dorado in Tokyo.
But their career has highlighted the courage, tenacity and talent that allowed them to recover from a difficult start to the tournament (three defeats in the first four group matches).
They have been worthy French ambassadors of this new sport which is played at a frantic pace over 10 minutes.
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Pioneering gold seekers, the Bleues finally left Tokyo empty-handed where an Olympic medal would have been the most beautiful effect in an already well-stocked record, they who are already double reigning European champions (2018, 2019), also won bronze at the Worlds (2019) and are winners of the Fiba Women's Series.
© 2021 AFP