The flawless performance of the French teams continues with the qualifications for the basketball players and handball players in the semi-finals on Wednesday. Kevin Mayer, 5th at the end of the first day of the decathlon and diminished by a back injury, will have to fight hard to glean a medal on Thursday. In sailing, Camille Lecointre and Aloïse Retornaz brought a new bronze medal to France.
French team sports received 5/5 at the Tokyo Olympics!
The day after the men's handball, basketball and volleyball qualifications, the handball and basketball players also qualified for the semi-finals of their tournament on Wednesday.
So many successes that do not eclipse the poor form of the decathlete Kevin Mayer, injured in the back and 5th after a day of testing.
Finally, the French delegation has a new bronze medal in its purse: that of Camille Lecointre and Aloïse Retornaz in veil.
At the end of the day, the France team keeps its 8th position on the medal table with 25 charms including six Olympic titles, just behind Germany, 7th with eight gold medals.
Italy and the Netherlands are behind it in 9th and 10th place with six gold charms as well.
Olympic Games - French
medals Infogram
The double of French women's sport
It is undoubtedly two of the best days of French team sport at the Olympics.
The
tricolor handball players
and
basketball players
won their ticket to the semi-finals of their Olympic tournament the day after the Blues' treble in handball, basketball and volleyball. A brilliant 5/5 which suggests great chances of medals at the arrival at the Tokyo Olympics. This Wednesday, the Blue handball first swept the Dutch, reigning world champions, in the quarterfinals (32-22). Goalkeeper Amandine Leynaud delivered a top flight with 22 saves, or 51% success. Monumental! Allison Pineau's partners, six more goals on Wednesday, face Sweden in the semi-finals on Friday, a week after the two sides' draw in the group stage.
BRAVO The French women largely dominated the match 32-22 against the Netherlands.
They will face Sweden in the semi-final Les Bleues are in the last four for the 2nd time in a row at the #JeuxOlympiques!
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- francetvsport (@francetvsport) August 4, 2021
All that remained was the tricolor basketball players for the party to be full and complete. At the end of the suspense, the Blue beat their great Spanish rivals in the last seconds (67-64) to secure a place in the semi-finals. Gaby Williams allowed the French to secure the victory in the last moments by causing a fault of the Spaniards. This is the third consecutive semi-final of the Blue at the Olympics, after 2012 and 2016. To play the final this summer, it will be necessary to beat the Japanese on Friday, against whom the Blue had lost in the opening. The hour of revenge has come for the players of Valérie Garnier.
The France team joins Japan in the semi-finals of the women's basketball tournament, beating Spain at the end of the suspense thanks to a decisive Marine Johannes (67-64) # Tokyo2020 # Olympic
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- francetvsport (@francetvsport) August 4, 2021
Complicated start for Kevin Mayer, 5th after a day
If all goes well on the side of French team sports, things are bad on the other hand in athletics.
In the aftermath of Renaud Lavillenie's disillusionment in the pole vault, Montpellier's
Kevin Mayer
, decathlon star and Olympic gold contender, is only 5th after the first five events.
In question: a recent back injury, contracted on his arrival in Tokyo, which bothers him in all his movements as he told the microphone of France Televisions.
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- Tokyo Olympics: Kevin Mayer back to the wall in decathlon
Despite everything, the decathlete struggled to tear himself away and point to 189 points behind Canadian Pierce Lepage, 3rd in the provisional standings at the end of the first day.
If the Olympic title seems compromised, the French will have to give everything to glean a medal in Tokyo on Thursday.
"I have a staff who accompanies me, we have found the solution!"
Embarrassed by back pain at the start of the day, Kevin Mayer found color in the high jump competition # Tokyo2020 # Olympic
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- francetvsport (@francetvsport) August 4, 2021
Camille Lecointre and Aloïse Retournaz tanned in veil
Sailing is asserting itself as one of the biggest purveyors of medals on the French side! A few days after the silver of Charline Picon and Thomas Goyard in windsurfing, the French
Camille Lecointre and Aloïse Retornaz
won the bronze medal in the double dinghy 470. This is the second charm for the Norman Camille Lecointre, 36, after the also bronze at the Rio Olympics in 2016 with another partner, Hélène Defrance. The Blue could even have won gold if their claim against the British, Olympic champions, had been completed. It is in any case a beautiful 25th medal for the tricolor delegation in Tokyo, the ninth in bronze.
⛵ After the dubious maneuver of the Poles and the British which deprived the Bleues of the silver medal in 470, France protested, but without success ... It will be bronze!
# Tokyo2020 # Olympic
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- francetvsport (@francetvsport) August 4, 2021
Chances of missed medals
In addition, other French athletes have competed in the finals without experiencing the same success.
Quentin Bigot
only took 5th place in the hammer throw final, the day after Alexandra Tavernier's 4th position. Runner
Gabriel Tual
finished 7th in the 800m final dominated by two Kenyan runners. In artistic swimming, the pair of twins
Laura and Charlotte Tremble
placed 8th in the final, won by the Russians under a neutral banner. No new medal also for French equestrian sports with the small 12th place of
Nicolas Delmotte
in show jumping. Finally,
Lara Grangeon
finished the 10 km in open water in 9th place, 30 seconds off the podium.
Quentin Bigot misses the medal by finishing 5th in the hammer final with a throw at 79.39 m # Tokyo2020 # Olympic
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- francetvsport (@francetvsport) August 4, 2021
In short: promises and disappointments
Each Olympic day has its share of promises and disappointments on the French side. First, let's start with the good news: two Habs,
Pascal Martinot-Lagarde
and
Aurel Manga
have qualified for the 110m hurdles final which will take place on Thursday at 4:55 am French time. On the climbing side,
Anouck Jaubert will
play in the final on Friday thanks to his 8th place. In diving,
Alaïs Kalonji
got his ticket for the semi-finals.
Sébastien Vigier
qualified for the knockout stages of the track cycling speed event after the repechage.
In canoeing,
Maxime Beaumont
and
Manon Hostens
both made it to the semi-finals of the K1 200m and 500m respectively. But this did not happen for the duo
Guillaume Burger and Etienne Hubert
on the K2 1000m event. To end this overview,
Amandine Brossier
, 6th in her semi-final in the women's 400m, will not see the final of the event. There will also be no podium in the fight for the French delegation after the defeat of its last representative,
Mathilde Rivière
, in the first round. It's also over for
Madeleine Larcheron
, 12th in the qualifying event for the ladies skateboard park.