Judoka Teddy Riner, during his eleventh world champion title over 100 kilos, in Doha, May 13, 2023. KARIM JAAFAR / AFP
The deadline seemed distant to him at first, ” almost impossible “given her age – for a high-level sportswoman that is. “And then, from year to year, I noticed that the desire was still there. The more I [m’en] got closer, the more I told myself that it could do it”, says Mélina Robert-Michon. The discus thrower will celebrate her 45th birthday on July 18, eight days before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games (OG).
The awarding of the Summer Games in Paris in September 2017 encouraged many French athletes to play for extra time, postponing their retirement. The Olympics? “The dream of a lifetime”, we often hear. So, when the planetary high mass takes place “at home”, exactly one hundred years after the last time, it’s hard not to salivate.
The announcement had barely come, some had already projected themselves seven years later – an eternity in terms of a career. Judoka Teddy Riner was one of the first to trumpet it, at a time when the double Olympic champion, crowned in London in 2012 and in Rio in 2016, reigned supreme in his heavyweight category. Imagine yourself still being the man to beat on the tatami mats in Paris, when he will be 35? ” Of course ! Because it’s in Paris. As long as this desire is there, I can go very far, even in 2024”he assured AFP at the beginning of September 2017, on the heels of a 9th world title – he now has 11.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Paris 2024: for French athletes, the Olympic celebration is worth it
The desire, but not only that: the body and mind must still allow it. The challenge of lasting is imposed on all these athletes who will have passed the 30-year mark a long time ago. “I didn’t have this feeling of saying to myself: ‘We’re going to have to push further than expected.’ But I practice as much as I caninsists pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie (37), who could experience his fourth Games if he manages to qualify. I see them more as a bonus, I have everything to gain and nothing to lose. And if I don’t do them, my career won’t be a failure. »
Lowering the curtain “in apotheosis”
For some, the hope of finally unlocking a still virgin Olympic record weighed in the balance. “I still have the flame and, after four Olympics without a medal, the possibility of trying again at home cannot be refused”attests sailor Jean-Baptiste Bernaz, ILCA 7 world champion (solo dinghy) in 2022, who will be 37 years old in July.
He is still not satisfied. Gold medalist over 50 meters freestyle in 2012, Olympic vice-champion over the distance in 2016, in Rio, then again in 2021, in Tokyo, where he played the fire service by saving French swimming from zero points , Florent Manaudou is eager to win a fourth individual in a row in as many editions.
You have 60% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
2024-01-27 06:03:03
#French #athletes #playing #overtime #Paris
