The choice of experience. Valériane Ayayi succeeds as captain of the France team to Sarah Michel Boury, who retired after the Paris Olympic Games, the French Basketball Federation announced on Tuesday.
The winger (30 years old, 151 caps) from USK Prague is the most experienced player of the Olympic vice-champions, who begin their international season Thursday against Israel in Caen as part of qualifying for Euro-2025 (18 -June 29 in Greece, Italy, Czech Republic and Germany).
La Bordelaise is the older sister of professional basketball players Gérald (Cholet) and Joël Ayayi (Bourg-en-Bresse). She was one of the French heroines, silver medalists this summer at the Paris Olympics, distinguishing herself by her fierce defense against the Americans in the final, concluded with a cruel defeat of a small point (67-66).
Valériane Ayayi also won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She revealed just after the tournament that she had played these Olympics while three months pregnant.
