Back to the events of the day.
No Olympic title this Thursday, but three new silver medals on the clock, which bring the total of French charms to eleven. These are Claire Bove and Laura Tarantola who started the ball rolling, taking second place in a pair of lightweight sculls, in rowing.
In swimming, the American star Caeleb Dressel won a second gold medal (in two races) at these Olympics with the 100-meter freestyle. The Florida swimmer can hope for a harvest of six titles in Tokyo. As for the Frenchman Maxime Grousset, he finished at the foot of the podium.
Assured of a medal after her victory in the semi-final of – 78 kilos, the judoka Madeleine Malonga will quickly crack in the final, when she was opposed to the Japanese Shori Hamada. She must be satisfied with the money, just like the French foilists Ysaora Thibus, Anita Blaze, Pauline Ranvier and Astrid Guyart, beaten by the Russians in the team final.
The tricolor windsurfer Charline picon, she already has a medal around her neck, but we do not yet know the metal. He will have to wait until Saturday and the medal race (the final regatta) to find out, but she will fight for gold.
And also…
In the absence of Simone Biles, she is another American, Sunisa Lee, who won the women’s individual all-around gymnastics competition.
In handball, the French missed the victory penalty against the Swedes (29-29), while the Blue of Sevens rugby started their tournament with two wins, against Fiji (12-5) and Brazil (40-5).
Discover the menu of tomorrow.
Already double Olympic champion, Teddy Riner has the opportunity to achieve a historic treble. He would therefore join the legend Tadahiro Nomura, the only judoka to have achieved such a feat. Beginning of the tournament at 4 am against the Austrian Stephan Hegyi. Still in judo, Romane Dicko will be competing in + 78 kilos.
After a week of trials, it’s time for athletics. Many series on the program and a first final, with the men’s 10,000 meters, scheduled for 13:30, and where we will find the French Morhad Amdouni.
By kayak (K1), Boris Neveu is aiming for a medal, but before that he will have to pass the obstacle of the semi-finals (7:45 a.m.). Possible medal also in archery for the Frenchwoman Lisa Barbelin, reigning European champion. Qualified for the knockout stages, she faces Mexican Alejandra Valencia at 2:56 am. Three French people are also in contention in the men’s BMX semi-finals: Sylvain André, Mathieu Romain and Joris Daudet (3 hours). Among the ladies, only a French woman can still dream of a medal: Axelle Etienne (3 h 15).
In fencing, Romain Cannone has the opportunity to achieve the double, after his individual title. French swordsmen, reigning Olympic champions, will face the Japanese or the Americans in the quarter-finals at 4:25 a.m.
In swimming, we will keep an eye on the women’s 100-meter freestyle, where the Australian Emma McKeon is a favorite after breaking the Olympic record in the playoffs. The men’s 50-meter freestyle heats will see their side Florent Manaudou, Olympic champion in London and silver medalist in Rio, enter at 10:20 a.m.
And also…
In a trampoline, the Frenchwoman Lea Labrousse, second at the last European Championships, enters the competition from 6 a.m.
The French handball players, already qualified, face Spain at 7.15 a.m., whilein rugby sevens les Bleues challenge Canada at 2:30 a.m., before entering the quarter-finals in the middle of the morning.
The tricolor basketball players They have their backs to the wall after their inaugural defeat against Japan. They face Nigeria at 10:20 a.m. Similar situation for the French volleyball players, who will not have the right to make mistakes against the Russians (12:45 p.m.).
The Games in one animated shot.
??? They did it! The French women’s foil is guaranteed to have a medal, for the first time since 19… https://t.co/iDLZAxTtXJ
With her loud cries and wide eyes, Ysaora Thibus seemed to take the measure of the feat that she and her foil teammates achieved at the end of the forty-fifth and final touch in their favor. While they were twelve lengths behind (24-12), the French managed to overthrow the Italians, who in London in 2012 had become Olympic champions to the detriment of the French, whom they had eliminated in the semifinals.
The Bleues therefore logically celebrated the first Olympic medal that the French women’s foil has known for thirty-seven years, and this although they had to be satisfied with the money. Having been quickly left behind by the Russians, they found nothing to repeat the feat of their semi-final.
The Olympians at the microphone.
“If one day that happens to me, I would never know what to say!” “
Laura Tarantola and Claire Bové are the new Olympic vice-champions in the lightweight two-sculls, in rowing. The two Frenchwomen went to look for their silver medal after a breathtaking final. They finished just behind the Italians, but ahead of the Dutch.
? “Frankly it’s phew! It was a dream to come home with the medal, now we can say that we are vice-cham … https://t.co/LNvDrByp8s
The two women were visibly surprised to step onto the box. Laura Tarantola thus recounted that upon arrival she thought the final result readable on the display panel was a mistake.
After describing how she had listened to the Dutch as well as her teammate talking to her, Claire Bové says that at the sight of this same billboard she recalled a test of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. , in 2018: “There is a French champion who wins, who gives a great speech on TV, and I said to myself: ‘But if one day that happens to me, I would never know what to say!’ ” Before “his” Laura Tarantola interrupts him: “That’s it, you’ve found it! ”
Snapshots from our special envoys.
If you have no notion of Japanese and want to avoid misunderstandings with Tokyo taxi drivers, the advice is simple: wherever you want to go, just say: “Nippon Budokan. “ You may never see your original destination, but at least you’ll save yourself long minutes of explanation. Fissa, your driver will drive towards the temple of Japanese judo – and, let’s be serious, global.
Everyone here knows the Budokan. And it is a real heartbreak to see the mythical room closed to spectators of the Archipelago. We imagine the Cocotte-Minute that it must be in normal times, full to the brim and animated by the breath of an audience of connoisseurs. Only a few privileged attend judo competitions. And the selfies of International Federation officials, umpires and local volunteers are flourishing. As if to mean to the rest of the world: “I was there. “ The Budokan, a very select club.
He fell from a height. While we were impatiently awaiting the fight between Sam Kendricks, double world champion, and Armand Duplantis, world record holder – while secretly hoping for an incursion in the middle of this duel of Renaud Lavillenie -, the jumping competition perche (which will take place on Saturday then Tuesday) has just lost one of its most serious contenders.
The American will not be Olympic champion this year. Suffered from Covid-19, he was forced to forfeit, as confirmed by his father on his Instagram account : “Sam is not sick, and we are not worried. The testing system is very strict here. The Japanese authorities will not allow him to do a PCR test for six days, so the competition is over. “
In the process, three Australian athletes who had rubbed shoulders with Sam Kendricks were placed in isolation, as the Australian Federation informed, specifying however that the three athletes in question, even subject to a rigorous protocol of daily tests, will be allowed To “Train, under very strict conditions”. The Federation ensures that, “As it stands, all of its athletes will take part in the competitions, as planned”.
Our selection of articles on the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games