Tokyo Olympics: what are the best French chances?

The delegation of the French team arrives in Tokyo with 378 athletes.

Among all these tricolor representatives, some are well placed to glean a gold medal in their discipline.

Overview of the main French chances at the next summer Olympics (23 July-8 August).

In the company of flag-bearers Clarisse Agbegnenou and Samir Aït Saïd, 378 French athletes are attending the Tokyo Olympics (July 23-August 8) to try to leave with the most beautiful medals around their necks.

Some have already shone in the past, like the judoka Teddy Riner, reigning double Olympic champion.

Others can confirm their good progresses like the decathlete Kevin Mayer.

Finally, France is not left out in team sports, with a few teams that have everything to play the leading roles in Tokyo.

Europe 1 presents a (non-exhaustive) selection of French athletes and teams who will thrill French supporters during the Games.

Athletics

• Kevin Mayer, decathlon

The decathlete Kevin Mayer is one of the French revelations of the last Olympic Games.

His silver medal in Rio, behind the American legend Ashton Eaton, had marked the spirits.

Since then, the Montpellier Athletic Club licensee has continued to improve, and even broke the world record for the discipline in 2018 at Talence.

The postponement of the Olympics due to the health context allowed him to recover from pain in his left foot.

This year, the 29-year-old athlete won in a European indoor championship, heptathlon.

This allows him to arrive in Tokyo with confidence to try to win his first Olympic gold medal.

• Renaud Lavillenie, pole vault

One of the headliners of French athletics is in the midst of uncertainty. The pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, Olympic champion in London in 2012 and 2nd in Rio, injured his left foot in early July, two weeks before the start of the Tokyo Games. "The countdown is on," he wrote on Twitter. The year 2021 had nevertheless gone well so far for the Clermontois with a jump to 6.06 meters at the end of February, a height that he had not crossed since 2014. Renaud Lavillenie will have to face the Swedish Armand Duplantis, all-time favorite and also in good shape in recent months. To see if the Clermontois will be 100% fit in Japan to defend his chances.

Clearly not the ideal scenario for my last competition before the Olympics.

Injured to the left ankle following a poor reception on the mat.

I leave the clinic with an "encouraging" verdict: no fracture, a big sprain.

The countdown is on pic.twitter.com/M9J9gFu5X8

- Renaud LAVILLENIE (@airlavillenie) July 11, 2021

• Mélina Robert-Michon, discus throwing

A leading figure in French athletics, Mélina Robert-Michon, 41, is preparing to play her sixth Olympic Games this summer.

His last appearance proved fruitful with a silver medal in Rio, where the French athlete broke the French record (66.73 meters).

After a sluggish start to the season in 2021, Mélina Robert-Michon signed the seventh best performance of her career in a regional championship last June, then she won her twentieth title of champion of France.

The native of Voiron (Isère) can achieve a new Olympic feat.

• Alexandra Tavernier, hammer throw

Third youngest medalist in world championship history (3rd in 2015), Alexandra Tavernier carries a lot of French hope on her shoulders.

His progress has been growing since his revelation at the highest level and his 11th place at the Rio Games, with French records broken successively over the past two years.

The native of Annecy crossed the 75-meter mark in 2020. Recently, the Haut-Savoyarde took 2nd place in a European competition at the beginning of July.

A performance that could allow him to grab an Olympic podium for his second participation in the Games.

• Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, 110 meters hurdles

He has the qualities to triumph in Tokyo, but recent injuries call for caution.

Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, specialist in the 110-meter hurdles, did not come far from inviting himself to the podium of the Rio Olympics, finishing in 4th place.

Since then, the 29-year-old Frenchman has distinguished himself on several occasions, in particular by winning a bronze medal at the world championships in Doha in 2019. Hit in the right hamstring in the winter of 2021, Pascal Martinot-Lagarde s 'is preserved to arrive in good shape in Japan.

A bet that can pay off.

• Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, 800 meters

World champion in 2017 in the 800 meters, the facetious Pierre-Ambroise Bosse can pull off an anthology race at any time.

At the foot of the Olympic podium in 2016, the native of Nantes dreams of winning a medal in Tokyo for his third Olympics.

After a season truncated by the pandemic in 2020, he achieved good indoor times over the 800 meters, admittedly without a benchmark victory.

Perhaps the 29-year-old runner is up to another feat at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium.

Basketball

• The women's and men's teams

The two French basketball teams also have chances of bringing back medals from Tokyo.

The women led by Sandrine Gruda want to confirm their performance at Euro 2021 where they finished vice-champions of Europe last June.

The men, third in the 2019 World Cup with NBA players (Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier), had achieved the feat of beating "Team USA" in the quarter-finals, signing France's first victory against the United States. United in the history of international basketball.

The two teams will also meet from the group stage in Tokyo, like an air of revenge.

Fencing

• The women's and men's teams

Fencing is one of the usual major purveyors of medals on the French side.

Despite the non-selection of Daniel Jérent, gold medalist in team épée in 2016, for suspected doping, the French contingent will be led by other former medalists: Yannick Borel, also Olympic team champion in Rio, and Enzo Lefort, 2nd in the team foil event.

With 14 female and male fencers, the French contingent is one of the best represented in these Olympics.

What to hope for new medals in teams, but also in individual.

Soccer

• The men's team

The French men's football team is perhaps the most anticipated team among French supporters.

For good reason: it's been 25 years since the Blues had qualified for the Olympics.

Curiosity will therefore be in order with a selection turned upside down compared to that of Didier Deschamps at the Euro.

André-Pierre Gignac and Florian Thauvin are back in the tricolor jersey, in the company of players under 23 under the direction of the coach of the Espoirs, Sylvain Ripoll.

A week before the start of the Olympic tournament, the Blues won against South Korea in a preparation match (2-1).

To see if this unprecedented and promising team on paper can glean a medal, the goal of an entire group.

Artistic Gymnastics

• Samir Aït Saïd, rings

Talented petrika, gymnast Samir Aït Saïd was very scared by seriously injuring himself at the Rio 2016 Olympics (fracture of the tibia fibula upon landing a jump).

The flag bearer of the French delegation alongside Clarisse Agbegnenou returns with the intention of "coming to get this medal", then promised.

The 31-year-old rings specialist is not alone in aiming for the podium, but he promises "a surprise" in these movements.

During the last world championships of the discipline in Stuttgart, he had collected the bronze medal, the first award of his career in a World Cup.

Handball

• The women's and men's teams

In 2016, the French women's and men's handball teams won the silver medal.

Since then, the two selections have had a crossed destiny.

Les Bleues won over with a world title in 2017, a European title in 2018 and a second place in 2020.

On the other hand, the men's team is looking for a new lease of life after the departure of executives Thierry Omeyer and Daniel Narcisse.

The return of "the former" Nikola Karabatic in the French game will perhaps do the Blues good, 4th without him at the last World Cup in 2021.

Judo

• Teddy Riner

He is the most visible once again in the French contingent.

Judoka Teddy Riner is aiming for a third consecutive Olympic coronation in the over 100 kg category.

Since his tenth world champion title in 2017, the French star has become rarer on the tatami mats, wanting to preserve his strength for the big meeting of the Games.

Winner for his return to competition in October 2019, Teddy Riner however lost a fight in February 2020 against the Japanese Kokoro Kaheura, his first defeat since 2010. The 32-year-old Guadeloupe awaits his revenge against his Japanese rival, on his land.

• Clarisse Agbegnenou

French judo is once again well represented thanks to another great tricolor chance, Clarisse Agbegnenou.

Vice-Olympic champion in Rio in 2016, the 28-year-old Rennaise has high ambitions in Japan.

And for good reason: she is the most successful French judoka in history with five victories in the world championship, including the last edition in June 2021, and five others in Europe.

Flag bearer of the French delegation in the company of gymnast Samir Ait Saïd, the tricolor judokate will try to win the first Olympic title of her career.

Swimming

• Florent Manaudou

On the French swimming side, Florent Manaudou remains one of the greatest chances for a medal. Titled in London in 2012 in the 50-meter freestyle, the native of Villeurbanne left Rio with two silver medals, solo over the same distance and as a team in the 4x100-meter freestyle. After a sporting break in handball, Florent Manaudou returned to swimming in 2019. Well he took it: in November 2020, he achieved the third best world performance in the history of the 50 meters short course with a time of 20 ' 55 ".

Returning to Marseille to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics, the 30-year-old swimmer finished 5th at the European Championships in Budapest last May, still in the 50-meter freestyle.

He can raise his level at the right time to win once again on the international scene.

Modern Pentathlon

• Élodie Clouvel

Élodie Clouvel has probably not finished writing the history of French sport.

The first French athlete to win an individual medal in modern pentathlon at the Rio Olympics with silver around her neck, she can hope to do even better and win gold in an atypical discipline.

Despite recent results below her expectations in recent years, she won the mixed relay in 2018 with her companion Valentin Belaud, also in contention for the Tokyo Olympics.

Recently, the 32-year-old pentathlete placed 2nd in individual at the world championships last June.

Promising for the Games.

Mountain biking

• Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt, cross-country

Missing out on her Games in 2016 during a season marked by injuries, cyclist Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt appears in the form of her life before the Tokyo meeting. The native of Reims won the last two cross-country world championships, in 2019 and 2020, to total three world titles in this Olympic category. At 29, the runner set out to conquer her first Olympic recognition, and she has every chance of achieving it.