the French Olympic volleyball champions for the first time

But where will they stop? Everyone had been asking the question for a few days. The answer fell, triumphant: the French volleyball team went all the way. Until the incredible terminus of a journey that had a bad start.

For the first time in their history, French volleyball players are Olympic champions. They disposed of Russia in the Games final on Saturday August 7 in Tokyo. Victory three sets to two (25-23, 25-17, 21-25, 21-25, 15-12), almost two and a half hours after kick-off. The match over, the Blues can start a dance of joy. A sort of French cancan, almost as atypical as their play made of feints and ardor.

But that it will have been necessary to fight! First in the first set: the Blues are led by three points (16-19) when the coach, Laurent Tillie, asks for a time out. First explanation, first solutions: the French regain the advantage (23-22), late, passing in front thanks to a smash from Earvin Ngapeth. Smash blocked by the Russians, but off the field.

The second set is clearer, facing opponents still stunned to have let slip the first. Quite the opposite of the third and fourth rounds, during which the Russians regain their strength, encouraged by a delegation not very stingy in “Davaï” (go) and other exhortations.

And what about the tie-break… Untenable. A mano a mano, point against point, smash for smash, in which even the substitutes and members of the French staff seem to want to participate. On the opposing side, from the only occupied stand of the Ariake Arena, whistles are not uncommon to distract the French at the time of their service.

“With two sets everywhere, we said to ourselves: ‘Guys, it doesn’t matter, it will be even more beautiful to win three sets to two than three sets to zero” “, says Kevin Tillie, whose father is none other than the coach. “We had a change of heart, we had no more energy, but we went to seek the gold medal with our hearts”, appreciates Trévor Clévenot. With also “A lot of lucidity”, insists his teammate Benjamin Toniutti. It took some to make up for the three-point lead taken by the Russians at the start of the fifth round.

An improbable journey

This final rewards an improbable journey, one that will be remembered for a long time. Imagine a team that loses two of its first three games, against the United States and Argentina, and fears being eliminated in the first round, as at the Rio Games, in 2016. Then imagine this same team, still in group stage, dominate Russia (already) and snatch a point of the tie-break against Brazil, reigning Olympic champion.

“We are survivors”exclaimed Laurent Tillie, who had not finished. In the quarter-finals, victory over the double Polish world champions, after being led two sets to one! It was before a success over Argentina, found in the semi-finals, then before this second victory of the summer over Russia. The most beautiful, without a doubt, in the history of French volleyball. “Every time we messed up, it’s when we thought we were favorites”, summarizes the ferryman Antoine Brizard.

These Blues surprised everyone, starting with their opponents. “We do things we are not used to seeing in volleyball, explained Jean Patry after the semi-final. A mixture of fighting spirit and creativity at times. With points that can hurt the opponent and strengthen us mentally. “

Like Antoine Brizard or Barthélémy Chinenyeze, Patry rejuvenated the ranks of a generation already among the most gifted in French volleyball, that of Earvin Ngapeth, Jenia Grebennikov and Benjamin Toniutti. The latter still has the status of captain, but he lived the final as a substitute, Antoine Brizard having been preferred to him again.

“We are a bunch of friends who play volleyball”

“We want to be all together in the light”, explained Grebennikov at the first pre-Olympic rally in Mulhouse in May. “We try to forget what is at stake, we are a bunch of friends who play volleyball”, Earvin Ngapeth clarified.

As the years went on, the band of friends grew. “There are many more serious moments in our reunion, in our discussions, continues Ngapeth, who signed with the same club as Jenia Grebennikov, in Modena (Italy). It was weird for me to call him to tell him about the children’s school. “ Grebennikov has fun: “Families are created, we meet for weddings, some saying to me ‘Ah, Jenia, you have white hair’, some will go bald. “

Today, Laurent Tillie does not hesitate to compare teams and eras. As a player, he played in the 1988 Seoul Games, the first of five Olympic participations for French volleyball. Until this summer, all had failed before the quarter-finals. For the coach, ” There is no photo “, the current generation is “Ten times, twenty times, a hundred times stronger”.

The coach of the France team is preparing to cede his duties to the Brazilian Bernardo Rezende, a reference, after leading the Blues to their first titles: first Euro (2015), first World Leagues (2015 and 2017) and now the first Olympic medal, in addition to gold.

Earvin Ngapeth, Jenia Grebennikov, Trévor Clévenot, Jean Patry, Kévin Tillie? All sons of former volleyball players. The national coach now hopes that “Boys and girls” will want to join them, well beyond the families of initiates. The Olympic title, “Magnificent showcase”, gave to see his sport. “A sport without contacts, aesthetic, spectacular, mental”, he boasts. A sport “Global”. The International Volleyball Federation has even more member nations than football. Since Saturday, it also has a new Olympic champion country.