Will a member of the French judo team take the French delegation to the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games? This is what the French Judo Federation is hoping for. This Sunday, Ouest-France announced that Clarisse Agbégnénou and Teddy Riner were going to be proposed by the Federation to be the standard bearers of the French team.
Two athletes must be nominated. Neither the date of the announcement nor the method of designation of these flag bearers were, however, revealed by the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF). One thing remains certain, there will be a woman and a man. There could therefore well be a judoka, even if both have already been, in 2016 for Riner, in 2020 for Agbégnénou.
“We are going to propose both Clarisse Agbégnénou and Teddy Riner,” explained Stéphane Nomis, the president of the FF Judo, in West France. I think they are two huge champions. Yes, they have already been flag bearers in the past, it doesn’t often happen to have flag bearers who have already been, but here it is with us, they have already been Olympic champions, and each time sometimes they bring home medals. They embody Olympic sport. It’s very difficult to find athletes who embody Olympic sport more than them. They are very media-oriented, they carry people with them, they know how to motivate. It would be an extraordinary story. »
Last June, the judokate, winner of the Paris Grand Slam this Saturday, had already announced that she was a candidate for this role. “Candidate to be a second time in Paris 2024, at home (…). We have the right. If we have the right, why not? “, said the Olympic champion (- 63 kg), as part of the sixth episode of the series “A story, a flag”, broadcast on France TV. In Tokyo, she took on this role alongside gymnast Samir Aït Saïd.
