Mélina Robert-Michon and Florent Manaudou chose the flag bearers for the opening ceremony – Libération

2024-07-11 19:12:48

Two experienced athletes were chosen on Wednesday, July 11 as the flag bearers of the French delegation for the opening of the Games on July 26. For the Paralympics, it should be Nantenin Keïta and Alexis Hanquinquant.

The speaker and the swimmer will wear French colors on the evening of July 26. The French National Olympic Committee and the Games Committee announced this Thursday, July 11, the appointment of Florent Manaudou and Mélina Robert-Michon as flag guard on the evening of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games. For the Paralympic Games, para-athlete Nantenin Keïta and paratriathlete Alexis Hanquinquant should be the flag bearers for August 28 and the opening ceremony, according to France Information.

This is the first time that the athletes who assume this role are chosen by their peers, the 571 athletes of the French delegation who will compete in the Paris Games.

And it’s an experience that seems to have been beneficial. To raise the national standard among women, Mélina Robert-Michon, vice-leader in discus throwing in Rio, received votes against swimmer Charlotte Bonnet, boxer Estelle Mossely, footballer Wendie Renard and judoka Romane Dicko. On his Instagram audio channel, the judo champion responded to the news in an audio message to his followers. And it is a sport. “Don’t be sad for me. I’m not sad, you are a very good duo, we will be very well represented […] Of course I would like to choose, that’s why I run but the important thing is the Games in Paris and especially the medal in Paris, certified athlete. I can’t wait to be on the boats on the 26th and to see you again.”

At the age of 44, Mélina Robert-Michon will participate in the seventh Olympic Games in Paris in two weeks. Selected for the Sydney Games in 2000, her first Olympic final dates back to the Beijing Games in 2008, where she finished seventh, before fifth in London. For her fifth Games, in Rio de Janeiro, the Frenchwoman won her first Olympic medal thanks to a throw of 66.73 m, setting a French record that still stands today. Before the Tokyo Olympics, his name was already spread to be the flag bearer, a mission that fell to Clarisse Agbégnénou and gymnast Samir Aït Saïd.

Florent Manaudou rather than Ngapeth, Lefort or Lavillenie

In men, Florent Manaudou He wants to be volleyball player Earvin Ngapeth, fencer Enzo Lefort and pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie. He is almost 38 years old and after his last failure in the last French Championships in Angers on May 30, the latter will not participate in the Paris Games.

Aged 33, the native of Villeurbanne will participate in his fourth Olympics. Olympic champion in the 50m freestyle for his first games in 2012, Florent Manaudou then won two silver medals four years later in Rio, again in the 50m freestyle and the 4×100 meter relay. At the Tokyo Games, he won the fourth medal, also silver, on his favorite distance, which he competed in Paris, 50m freestyle.

Nantenin Keïta, a blind athlete, has also won four Olympic medals and was crowned in the 400m in Rio in 2016. As for the world multi-medalist, Alexis Hanquinquant, he won gold in Tokyo in 2021 in triathlon in the PTS4 category.