Tokyo Olympics: from Riner to BMX via fencing, an hour in hell for French sport

On the scale of sports earthquakes, we do not know where to start.

Between the invincible Riner beaten in the quarter-finals or the French swordsmen Olympic champions released by Japan in the first round, French sport experienced a catastrophic end of the night on Friday.

We summarize for you this "hour in hell" which may be very expensive at the end of the fortnight when it comes time to take stock of the medals.

5:20 a.m. in Paris, 12:20 p.m. in Tokyo: French swordsmen are no longer kings

They were Olympic champions since 2004. Better still: they had always been medalists since Barcelona, ​​in 1992. Even better: they had in their team the reigning Olympic champion, Romain Cannone.

But nothing helped: the French team épée bowed against Japan to everyone's surprise and on the last touch, while we are at 44-44.

Yannick Borel, disappointing in individual, is taken by the Japanese Kano.

A first blow of bamboo which announces many others.

🤺🇫🇷 What a disappointment!

The French men's épée team sees its dream of a medal fly away after a short defeat against Japan.

A first setback for the men's epee at the Olympic Games since Sydney in 2000 # Tokyo2020

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Borel, who was playing his third Olympics, confides in the wake of "blaming himself a lot" for the lead of two touches in the last stint that he was unable to keep.

“It's painful to come out of these Games without a medal,” he explains.

"We feel below what is expected of us, we feel below everything," said the member of the Levallois club, visibly very affected but lucid.

5:42 a.m. in Paris, 12:42 p.m. in Tokyo: la mouise to the BMX circuit

Three French in the final out of seven competitors, the medal was almost mathematical. And yet, after the BMX final, the French counter remains stuck at 11. The fault is an average start of our French, and also an incredible fall of Joris Daudet in the last corner, while he firmly held the third place. . Considered the best in the world, the French riders in this ultra-spectacular discipline completely get through. "It's a shame… That's how it is, it's sport", launches, fatalistic and almost sounded Sylvain André.

😌 Huge disillusionment for French BMX

The three Frenchmen finished 4th, 6th and 8th in the long-awaited final.

Niek Kimmann wins Olympic gold ahead of Kye Whyte and Carlos Alberto Ramirez # Tokyo2020 #Olympic

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A few minutes later, it is the French Axelle Etienne who sets off for her final.

Well started, she seems able to play for the medal before gradually losing places.

She finally finished 7th in the final and let BMX come back without a medal.

A huge disappointment.

5:55 a.m. in Paris, 12:55 p.m. in Tokyo: Riner receives an Olympic slap

Teddy Riner enters the tatami of the Nippon Budokan around 5:50 am. Everything starts well, the Frenchman is by far the most offensive. His opponent, the Russian Tamerlan Bashaev received two shidos and held up well in the regulatory four minutes. Then comes the worst scenario of this morning: barely the golden score started that Riner is trapped almost "stupidly". Bashaev attempts a block and pushes Riner back and to the ground, all with insane ease. The referee hesitates for a few seconds, calls on the video and ends up giving the victory to the Russian. Tadahiro Nomura can sleep comfortably. He will remain at least four more years the only judoka to hold three Olympic titles.

🥋☹️❌ It's over for Teddy Riner!

Beaten by the golden score, on a waza-ari, by the Russian world number one Tamerlan Bashaev, he will compete in the repechage to win the bronze # Tokyo2020 #Olympic

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This Friday, the last hope for a French medal now rests on the judokate Romane Dicko.

During this fatal hour, she was the only one to shine by qualifying for the semi-finals in the over 78kg.