On the occasion of the World Series in Vancouver, from February 23 to 25, Antoine Dupont, captain of the French XV, begins a new adventure within the French rugby sevens team, which must lead Toulouse to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in a discipline that is not quite his own. The absence of rugby union from the Olympic program convinced him to disrupt his season to experience the Paris Olympics.
During Rugby Night last November, the person recognized that the Games were “less mythical” for rugby fans, since the discipline has recently been Olympic, and only in its version with seven players per team. “But despite this, hosting the Olympic Games in France will be an incredible party to be able to be part of it. Especially to be able to claim an Olympic medal. » “It’s a very motivating challenge”, he was moved.
Un aspect marketing
The rugby player’s case is not isolated. His fellow footballer Kylian Mbappé made several appeals, signaling his desire to play within the French Olympic team. “For any athlete, the Olympics have a special place and I already wanted to go to Tokyo because I want to win everything and write my name in the history of the French team as that of a player who mattered”he declared in the columns of GQ, in January. His former teammates at Paris-Saint-Germain, the Argentines Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria, expressed the same desire.
Sincere sporting objective or marketing opportunity? “The participation of Mbappé and Dupont in the Olympics does not allow us to conclude that the Games are a dream athletes of the new generation, it would be premature to say so”estimates Patrick Clastres, historian of sport and Olympics at the University of Lausanne. “They are professionals like any other, who may be very sincere but who are also engaged in marketing campaigns. We can also imagine that they were encouraged by their federation leaders and by the public authorities, in order to give luster to a 2024 event which does not necessarily appeal to the French, at least at present. »
The fact remains that with these wishes of the big stars, certain players, used to playing within a national team, will be sidelined, to make room for them. “That Antoine Dupont is playing rugby sevens is obviously great from a sporting point of view, his qualities are undeniable.judges a member of the French Rugby Federation. That said, it’s true that it can leave a bitter taste for the player whose place he will take, who has been practicing rugby sevens for perhaps several years. There are bound to be some disappointed people. But in the software of great champions, there is always competition and when there is someone better than you and this best is available, you have to give them room. »
Basketball, symbol of a move away from superstars
On the other side of the Atlantic, basketball superstars like LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant have also expressed their desire to participate in the next Games in Paris. To win a fifth medal in a row, the United States have the opportunity to build a new “Dream team” after that of 1992, gold medalist at the Barcelona Olympics.
At the time, professional basketball players from the NBA were allowed to participate in the Olympic tournament for the first time. From then on, the best basketball players on the planet, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley, had suffered strong pressure from the American government and their sponsors, in a very specific context: “it was a question of affirming the triumph of the United States, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the disappearance of the USSR on the one hand, and of spreading the NBA and its model in Europe, on the other hand »recalls Patrick Clastres.
But once this fantastic epic had passed, several major American NBA stars subsequently refused selection during the Olympic Games, favoring their club season. “Even if we talk about it as a sporting holy grail, the Olympics have not always been the priority for certain basketball players. For many, the most important thing is the NBA season which is very long, very dense, and during which players’ bonuses are dependent on their performances, so the national team takes second place.explains Hanna Fellous, co-founder of the web media MVIP, specializing in the NBA. Clubs are not always willing to send their players to the selection and put a lot of pressure on them. Besides, in the minds of Americans, being an NBA champion is better than being a world champion. »
However, in 2024, a wind of change seems to be blowing over American basketball. “After several disappointments on an international scale for the American team, we note a patriotic awakening”, notes Hanna Fellous. During the 2023 World Cup, the United States, eliminated in the semi-finals by Germany, suffered a real humiliation. “ They hadn’t fielded the best team possible, nevertheless, it touched their national pride. Today, it is not surprising to see LeBron James or Kévin Durant, two very big names in basketball, wanting to wear the jersey. »
The opportunity to shine at home
But the existence of this context does not necessarily exclude their thirst for sporting exploits. LeBron James and Kevin Durant, aged 39 and 35, are entering the twilight of their careers. The Paris Games sound, for them who have already won everything, like a final challenge. The two world champion footballers Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria, both 36 years old, are in the same situation. Among the French, the opportunity to shine, at home, during a global event, inevitably turns heads. “For all these people, there is always the notion of records, of the trace that they want to leave”judge Hanna Fellous.
In tennis, a discipline often neglected by players in the top 10 during Olympic events, Frenchman Benoît Paire, on the other hand, provides a very contrasting look at the presence of the world’s elite: “tennis shouldn’t be”he judges, because according to him, the Games are only“a tournament like any other for tennis players”. Having himself participated in the Rio Games in 2016, he declared “love the Olympic Games”, during a broadcast as part of the UTS (Ultimate Tennis Showdown), last September. “I’m the first to see all the sports. But I saw the guys who were preparing, in the Olympic village, the Olympics are their life, they devote years to it. If we lose, we tell ourselves that we will be able to prepare for the next tournament, faster. »
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Football clubs don’t play the game
Since the Los Angeles Games, in 1984, where it won the gold medal, the French Olympic football team no longer shines on the international scene, despite a pool of talented young players.
The dates of the Olympic tournament, from July 24 to August 10, do not appear in the Fifa calendar for international matches. Consequently, clubs are not obliged to make their players available for selection to compete in the Olympic Games and do not deprive themselves of it.
In Tokyo, in 2021, Sylvain Ripoll, then coach of the French youth team, had to give up some of his senior players after the refusal of certain clubs.
If Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé have expressed their desire to compete in the Paris 2024 Games, the new coach of the Olympic team, Thierry Henry, will have to work together to convince their clubs to release them for the duration of the event.
