Five years after the Rio raid (6 medals, 2 titles), the French boxing team got tripped up with no medals in Tokyo in 2021. In Paris next summer, the French have the ambition to shine. If there are already 8 Blues qualified, five others could obtain their ticket during the last Olympic qualifying tournament from May 23 to June 2, in Bangkok, Thailand.
Published on: 05/13/2024 – 3:39 p.m.
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French boxing hopes to rediscover the excitement of the historic Brazilian summer of 2016. In Bangkok, Romane Moulai (-54 kg), Émilie Sonvico (-66 kg), Samuel Kistohurry (-57 kg), Yojerlin Cesar (-80 kg) and Soheb Bouafia (-92 kg) will compete in the third and final qualifying tournament Olympic. Enough to expand the team which already has eight qualifiers with Wassila Lkhadiri (-50 kg), Amina Zidani (-57 kg), Estelle Mossely (-60 kg), Davina Michel (-75 kg), Billal Bennama (-51 kg ), Sofiane Oumiha (-63.5 kg), Makan Traoré (-71 kg) and Djamili Aboudou (+92 kg).
« Participating is good, but it’s gold that I want »
Pour Sofiane Oumihaleader of the Blues, “ it would be a failure to end with anything other than gold around your neck “. The Toulouse man, Olympic vice-champion in Rio, shed tears of disappointment on the podium. From now on, the most important thing for him will be to be “ ready on the big day » for his third Olympics. “ I’m the big brother. I am more often with the French team than with my family at the moment, and I take the opportunity to give advice. I try to transmit my experience with humility », says the man who has won everything, except an Olympic title. “ The icing on the cake would be to go out the front door », he smiles.
« The Olympics are the most important competition. Participating is good, but it’s gold that I want. Nothing else. Anything else would be a huge disappointment. “, says Amina Zidani bluntly. “ We work a lot, and we are all motivated to make history. We are a family and we want to succeed », she adds. For the past year, the French team’s program has been intense, and the group spends a lot of time together.
In the history of the Olympic Games, France has won 25 medals in total, with six Olympic champions. “ We have put in the resources and our team is competitiveunderlines the president of the French Boxing Federation, Dominique Nato. We expect at least two medals for the women and the same for the men. We hope that it will be a celebration for French boxing in the Roland-Garros stadium (where the semi-finals and finals will take place, Editor’s note). »
If France was the first European nation and in the top 10 in the world in 2023, the competition is still strong with countries like Cuba or Uzbekistan among the men. Ireland and China are boosting women’s boxing. While there will be no seed and it will be a full draw for the Olympic tournament, “the organized team” has every intention this time of doing well.
