Tokyo 2021: unprecedented Olympic final for French volleyball
French volleyball player Earvin Ngapeth faces Argentina in the semi-finals of the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games. REUTERS - CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS
Text by: David Kalfa Follow
4 min
The French men's volleyball team qualified for the first Olympic final in its history, this Thursday, August 5, at the Tokyo 2021 Games. The French beat the Argentines in the semi-final 3 sets to 0. They will face each other. the Russian selection, August 7, for the gold medal.
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From our special correspondent in Tokyo,
French volleyball has been on a mission for nine years now, and Laurent Tillie has taken office at the head of the national team.
Its objective: that volleyball is as respected as the other major team sports in France, football, rugby, basketball and handball.
This August 5, 2021 in Tokyo, the French volleyball players have taken a big step towards the recognition to which they aspire both for their sport and for themselves.
They qualified for an unprecedented Olympic final in this discipline: a match against Russia, scheduled for August 7 at Ariake Arena, the scene of what is undoubtedly already the most beautiful feat in the history of the Blues. .
“
It's so beautiful
, loose the pointed Stephen Boyer.
We made so many sacrifices.
That's why tears flow every game we win.
We think back to everything we've done in recent years, all the sacrifices.
"
Revenge against the Argentines
Against Argentina, in the semifinals of these 2021 Olympics, the French selection was however facing a more prestigious opponent, bronze medalist at the 1988 Games and the 1982 Worlds. A country more used to Olympic games and which had thus finished 5th in 2012 and 2016. Above all, the Argentines had won 3-2 their first clash in Tokyo with the French, in the group stage.
This time, France, led in particular by a Trevor Clevenot inspired in attack, took the lead in the first set 25-22 and did not let go (25-19 in the second set and 25-22 in the third).
"Coming back, always believing in it, these are the strengths of this group"
At the final whistle, Laurent Tillie, whose last campaign as a coach is, poorly masked his emotion. “
We do not yet realize that we are in the final, I think. It's so chimerical. You run after an Olympic medal all your life. Me, for 20 years, I was a player and for 20 years we dreamed of an Olympic medal with my friends from the France team, in 1988 and in 1992. We got nothing, we broke the teeth. In Rio, in 2016, we also broke our teeth, he
says.
And there, we manage to win this final. Coming back, always believing in it, these are the strengths of this group.
"
And when the technician is asked if he was under pressure because French handball and basketball players qualified for the Olympic final, he smiles: “
We're happy to be with them.
And, now, we'll see who will do the best
!
But for us to be there is already a huge achievement.
"
► Tokyo 2021: Calendar of events, results, medal table
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