“It’s certainly not going to be possible this year” to be standard bearer, regrets Rudy Gobert – Libération

The French basketball player, silver medalist in Tokyo, will ultimately not present his candidacy to be flag bearer on July 26, during the opening ceremony, due to an unfavorable schedule.

The dream was short-lived. A week after declaring himself a candidate to march at the head of the French delegation during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on the Seine on July 26, Rudy Gobert reversed his decision this Thursday, May 2, highlighting practical constraints.

“It has always been a dream to be a flag bearer, it would have been an incredible honor, but the Olympic calendar will probably not allow it,” explains the 31-year-old Frenchman, who nevertheless fulfilled all the criteria to be able to claim function. We have a match in Lille the day after the ceremony. Being a standard bearer would make me arrive in Lille very late in the evening the day before a match, when my priority is really to be as good as possible with my team on the pitch. It would have been an honor but it’s certainly not going to be possible this year.”

“I’m really focused on the present moment”

The 2.16 m giant, in the running for a fourth honorary title as best defender of the year in the NBA, is currently involved in the NBA playoffs with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Impressive winners of the Phoenix Suns in the first round (4 wins to 0), the team is one of the favorites for the title.

Gobert and his teammates face the defending champion, Denver, in the Western Conference semi-final starting Saturday, less than three months before the Games where the pivot, Olympic vice-champion in 2021, will aim for gold with the Blues . “Today I am really focused on the present moment, it’s the best way to prepare for the Olympics,” he believes. It seems both near and far at the same time, strangely.”