At 34, the management of his body is more than essential for an athlete. Nando De Colo understood this and decided to skip the next EuroBasket organized in Germany, Italy, Georgia and the Czech Republic in September. A choice that should allow the Fenerbahce player to approach the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics in the best possible way, which he considers to be the final international competitions of his career. The Frenchman explained his choice to L’Equipe on Tuesday: “A few months ago I spoke to Vincent Collet and the players, I told them that I absolutely had to skip the Euro to me and my family, all this to be present at the 2024 Olympics and prepare for the 2023 World Cup”.
The Frenchman, Olympic vice-champion in Tokyo and 2013 European champion, missed only one international competition, the 2014 World Cup, because of a broken finger. With his 184 selections, Nando de Colo will miss the French team. But coach Vincent Collet understands this choice: “What Nando brings is irreplaceable. It is a taulier and more and more. His influence has never stopped growing, his Olympics have been a marvel. We will have to find a way to perform without him, we are not going to give up.
For this Euro, France will be in the pool of Germany, Lithuania, Hungary, Bosnia and Slovenia for a revenge of the last semi-final of the Olympic Games (90-89). The Blues will try to do better than in 2017 when they were eliminated in the round of 16 by Germany.
