It's madness in the Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Tears of joy and laughter light up the faces of the French. The sound system in the hall spits out Joe Dassin's song "les Champs Elysées". It's historic! Winners without trembling from Argentina in 3 sets (25-22, 25-19, 25-22) this Thursday in the semi-finals of the Games, Earvin Ngapeth's partners qualified for the final of the event. A first in the history of French volleyball which had never reached the quarter-finals of the Games. They dreamed of it, but the path was strewn with pitfalls. With in particular an epic duel against Poland, world champion, in the quarterfinals.
But this time, unlike the game against Poland, coach Laurent Tillie did not need to dive to recover a defense.
His players dominated the game from the first rally, suffocating their opponents with pounding attacks and defenses from all corners of the field.
In the final, Antoine Brizard's partners will face Russia, who dominated defending Olympic champion Brazil, in 4 sets.
It is also a historic day for French collective sport. With this qualification for the final, the Blues in volleyball imitate their brothers in handball and basketball who had canceled their tickets earlier in the day. Never had France succeeded in such a Grand Slam, an unreal triptych. It's magical, magnificent. To complete this masterpiece, the basketball players of Marine Johannès and the handballauses of Amandine Leynaud know what remains for them to do this Friday.