Tokyo (AFP)
The French women's foil team, composed of Ysaora Thibus, Anita Blaze, Pauline Ranvier and Astrid Guyart, severely beaten in the final Thursday in Chiba by Russia 45 to 34, won the silver medal, the eleventh podium for the tricolor camp since the start of the Tokyo Games.
After Romain Cannone's gold on Sunday at épée and bronze on Monday at Manon Brunet's saber, the French fencing team has already equaled its Rio-2016 harvest as well as its performance at the Montreal Games in 1976.
France won gold in Moscow in 1980, against the USSR, before winning the bronze medal in Los Angeles in 1984.
Since then, the women's foil was no longer on an Olympic podium, finishing in fourth place, notably at Rio-2016.
In a Makuhari Messe Hall in Chiba resounding with the "davaï, davaï" of the Russian camp and under the eyes of Thomas Bach, IOC president and former fencer, the Blues showed fighting spirit, in particular in the face of two individual medalists on Sunday, Larisa Korobeynikova in bronze, and Inna Deriglazova in silver, and titled in Rio-2016.
But it was insufficient.
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Despite the confidence gained by Ranvier, vice-world champion in 2019, Thibus, vice-world champion in 2018 and Blaze after their extraordinary "comeback" in the semi-final against the Italians, Olympic champions in London-2012, after having counted up to 12 touches of delay, the Habs could not do anything against relentless Russians.
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Substitute, Astrid Guyart came into play at the end of the game to try everything for everything, while France was led by ten points, but to no avail.
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The French team has the opportunity to do better than in Rio since there are still three chances of podium, even titles, Friday (men's épée by teams), Saturday (ladies' saber by teams) and Sunday (men's foil by teams).
© 2021 AFP