This is a first in French sporting history and a first in the 21st century.
You have to go back 33 years to find the trace of such a group shot, such a performance.
By winning its sesames for the finals of the Games in handball - a 27-23 victory against Egypt -, in basketball - 90-89 against Slovenia - and in volleyball - 3-0 against Argentina - France achieved a authentic feat, not seen since the Seoul Games in 1988. An eternity.
3 - France will play in the final of the Olympic Games in basketball, handball and volleyball, a 1st for men in "BHV" sports since the USSR in Seoul in 1988. GrandChelem.
#FRAARG # Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/6jTL5JE9Wx
- OptaJean (@OptaJean) August 5, 2021
At the time the great Russia, which still wore the initials of the USSR on its red tunics, had also succeeded in qualifying its three men's teams for the finals of these three disciplines.
A first in the history of Olympism at the time.
But the Soviets had failed the Grand Slam.
If the basketball players and handball players had won gold, the volleyball players were beaten in the final by the United States.
Since the Seoul Games, no nation had managed to reproduce such a performance. By creating such a triptych, France is inviting itself to the table of the great on the world stage. If the handball team is used to Olympic games (it will play its fourth final in a row), the presence of basketball players and volleyball players is more unexpected even if their consistency at the highest level for ten years was a happy omen. .