thunderclap and black day for French sport

The Japanese capital slowly extricated itself from its morning torpor when the storm broke on Friday, July 30. In a few seconds, rainstorms hit the Ariake Urban Sport Park, where the final BMX races are scheduled to begin. “Thunderstorm delay”, display the giant screens, “Delay due to thunderstorm”. Thunderclap in the sky of Tokyo. As a warning shot, above all, for the French Olympic team.

But the BMX semi-finals go off without a hitch for the Blues, after an army of volunteers swept the water off the track. It’s 12:15 p.m. at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, and meanwhile the golden dreams of the French men’s épée team are already evaporating. Released, from their first match of the day, by Japan, the triple Olympic gold medalists give up their crown. With one touch near (44-45).

While the Japanese are exulting, Yannick Borel remains planted on the track, as if nailed by the last point. “Yet I was alert, I knew I had to be very careful. I blame myself a lot “, confesses the veteran of the Blues, who let slip two keys in advance. His partner, Alexandre Bardenet recognizes “A huge disappointment”, “a hard pill to swallow”. And this was only the beginning of the French setbacks.

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“The medal was there, a mistake, and pfiou”

The storm gave way to a heavy sky in the Ariake district, when Joris Daudet rushed into the last bend of the BMX circuit. In third position, the Frenchman sees the finish line and the Olympic medal that has been denied to him for two editions of the Games. It was before the shock, at 12:45 exactly.

Joris Daudet, during the BMX semi-finals, Friday July 30 in Tokyo.

“I tell myself that I have the bronze, and then I do not know what happened, tries to remember, after the fact, the French leader of the discipline. I slipped, while it’s a turn where no one fell… The medal was there, a mistake, and pfiou. “ Behind him, neither Sylvain André (4e), nor Romain Mahieu (6e) will not manage to grab the podium they were also aiming for.

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Arrived favorites, the Blues leave pitiful. “We’ll never get there”, sighs in the stands the French president of the International Cycling Union, David Lappartient. If the rain no longer falls, the French delegation present in the gallery has taken a cold shower.

Seventh (out of eight) in the ladies final, Axelle Etienne will not rekindle the blue flame. “We arrive well prepared, however. The little surplus is missing, the little spark “, breath, dejected, Christophe Manin, national technical director of cycling.

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