On January 23, in a chat with readers of Le Monde, Clarisse Agbégnénou enthusiastically announced her desire to be the flag bearer of the French delegation during the Paris 2024 Games. “I was the flag bearer at the Tokyo Games 2020. It was extraordinary, explained the Olympic judo champion. I can even put this in my list of favorite moments in Japan. And I would like to relive it at the Paris Games. Especially since in Tokyo, we didn’t have an audience because of Covid. I would like my teammates from the French delegation to give me the opportunity to relive it again. »
But, since Wednesday March 13, and the announcement of the rules decreed by the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) to designate the flag bearers, Agbégnénou knows that there will be no second time for her, the athletes having already held this role being ruled out for Paris 2024. Which frustrates the judoka, as she expressed again this Sunday on social networks.
“Of course I hear that other people need to be flag bearers too if they want to experience this magical moment,” she explains in a story on Instagram. But, confident of feeling “a little taste of unfinished business” due to the special conditions (“in masks and without an audience”) in force in Tokyo in 2021, Agbégnénou believes that the CNOSF has “no right to us [the former standard bearers] dismiss by creating new rules.”
“Now it’s no longer a topic.”
According to the system chosen by the CNOSF, the contenders must, among other things, have already participated in the Games, not have been convicted of doping, but also not have already been a flag bearer in previous editions, such as Agbégnénou in 2021 or Teddy Riner in 2016, in Rio.
On March 13, on X, the six-time world champion had already protested against the method of designation announced by the National Olympic Committee. Referring to a survey which placed her at the top of the favorites to occupy the position among women, the judoka wrote: “There are the French and the figures who express a certain will and on the other side people work behind the scenes to impose discriminating conditions. »
This Sunday, Agbégnénou also had the desire to move on. “Now it’s no longer a subject,” she concludes on Instagram. I will concentrate on my and my trials. »
During the Paris Games, four standard bearers (two women and two men) from the Olympic and Paralympic teams will be elected by their peers. The federations will each be able to present one candidate. The vote will then be carried out with all the athletes of the French delegation. The names of the elected officials should be revealed in mid-July.
