Antoine Dupont (27 years old) and Clarisse Agbegnenou (31 years old) were named athletes of the year 2023 by the sports barometer of the Odoxa polling institute. The captain of the French rugby team is slightly ahead of that of the French football team Kylian Mbappé and Teddy Riner. Among the women, mogul skier Perrine Lafont comes in second place ahead of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, double world cross-country champion this year.
In this survey, Odoxa distinguishes between sports fans and French people in general. Dupont and Agbegnenou occupy the first places in both categories but sports fans prefer swimmer Léon Marchand in third place rather than Teddy Riner. On the women’s side, sports fans place Pauline Ferrand-Prévot in second place ahead of basketball player Marine Johannès.
Clarisse Agbegnenou’s year 2023 will have been marked by her return to the tatamis less than a year after the birth of her daughter. On May 10, the Rennaise became world champion in the -63 kg category for the sixth time, winning all her fights on ippon. In November, however, the Frenchwoman missed out on her European Championships in Montpellier, beaten in the quarter-finals.
For Antoine Dupont, 2023 rhymes with the Rugby World Cup at home from which the France team exited in the quarter-finals against South Africa. A match during which the Toulouse player was at the center of all attention after his maxillo-zygomatic fracture against Namibia three weeks earlier. On June 17, Antoine Dupont won the Top 14 with Stade Toulouse, his third Brennus Shield.
Pogba, the disappointment of the year
According to the survey, the victory of the French XV at the opening of the World Cup against the All Blacks is considered the performance of the year, ahead of Teddy Riner’s eleventh world title. The French remember Paul Pogba’s positive doping test as the disappointment of 2023, while sports fans are especially disappointed by the elimination of the French XV against South Africa.
