Why would Romain Cannone stop there?
Last Sunday, the swordsman, who had never been on an individual international podium, created one of the sensations of the Tokyo Games for the French delegation by winning the title to everyone's surprise.
Including his, since he had confided the next day "
having slept with his medal around his neck, just to be sure when we wake up that it was not a dream.
".
Now, if the fencer of the VGA Saint-Maur (Val de Marne) has entered another dimension, he will have to wait a little longer before savoring it because from this Friday, he will have to review his sword from the scabbard to go to the conquest of another coronation in the team competition.
Where he will be doubly expected as a new Olympic champion, but also because France is the title holder.
Which means a whole other pressure to manage ...
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A complicated mission to manage for a 24-year-old athlete who suddenly finds himself in full light, he who was not even to participate in these Games given his status as a replacement behind a Daniel Jerent finally dismissed due to a positive control and 'an ongoing investigation into him led by the French Anti-Doping Agency. Arrived without the slightest pressure, in his atypical style ultimately unknown to his opponents, Cannone has wreaked havoc and undoubtedly made American fencing regret its choice not to keep it, he who made all his ranges of swordsman besides -Atlantic. But this advantage of the surprise effect should have faded considerably this Friday, even if it is hard to imagine the opposing teams spent hours and hours focusing on him.Nevertheless, the Italians, the Hungarians or the Swiss, to name only the most dangerous rivals on paper of the French, have seen it at work, and have undoubtedly been able to analyze some parades and other responses.
A revengeful Yannick Borel
Except that, as its name quite rightly indicates, the competition will take place by teams.
Cannone will therefore only be one of the three blue relays alongside Yannick Borel and Alexandre Bardenet.
And the real leader of this team is none other than the first named, passed through during his individual competition with an entry elimination against the Egyptian Mohamed Elsayed.
A failure that touched him deeply, he who was aiming for at least a place on the podium.
“
Frankly, I have no excuse.
If I still had a good match, I would have told you that he was stronger.
But I can't even say that.
And that's why I blame myself.
“A frustration that Borel could put at the service of his partners in an event where he was often very impressive. As had been the case during the final of the last World Championships, where he finished with a 10-2 triumph against Ukraine to offer France their fourth coronation in the 2010s (2011, 2014, 2017 and therefore 2019). Without forgetting, therefore, the Olympic crown of Rio in 2016. Without competition for more than a year and a half, the French swordsmen intend to start the 2020s in the same way, with a title.
