The kick-off of the Winter Olympics will be given on Friday, February 4, with the opening ceremony to be held at the Beijing National Stadium.
Until February 20, the athletes of the French team will try to do better than 9th place in the medal standings, won four years ago with a harvest of 15 charms (5 gold, 4 silver and 6 bronze).
Fillon-Maillet, Jacquelin, Pinturault, Laffont, the Papadakis-Cizeron duo… We present to you the greatest chances of medals with the Blues.
The spearhead biathlon of the French team
It is in biathlon, in a sport where the French have historically shone, that the tricolors will have the best chance of shining and getting on the podiums.
Without Martin Fourcade, who played his last Games four years ago in South Korea, France can hope for a good harvest of medals.
Among the men,
Quentin Fillon Maillet
and
Emilien Jacquelin
occupy the first two of the general classification of the World Cup, and will be among the favorites.
Simon Desthieux
, 9th in this ranking, can also hope to win a charm.
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Among the women, four French women are in the world top 12:
Justine Braizaz-Bouchet
(7th), who won the individual Antholz-Anterselva on January 21,
Anaïs Chevalier-Bouchet
(9th), 3rd in the mass start of 'Antholz on January 23,
Anaïs Bescond
(10th) and
Julia Simon
(12th), 2nd behind her compatriot on the individual.
Biathletes can legitimately claim one or more medals at these Beijing Games.
The men's, women's and mixed relays will perhaps also smile on the Blues, accustomed to the podiums during the World Cup rounds.
Alexis Pinturault, only gold at the Games misses him
In
alpine skiing,
Alexis Pinturault
is obviously among the contenders for a medal, or even an Olympic title, in giant.
Winner of the Big Crystal Globe last year, he has already won a double medal (silver and bronze) in Pyeongchang.
This time, the Savoyard has an idea in mind: to win the Olympic title, the only title missing in the career of the 30-year-old skier.
Clément Noël
, too, arrives in Beijing with great ambitions.
It is on the super-G and the slalom that the Vosges, 4th four years ago in the slalom, could well hang on his record his first Olympic medal.
The giant and parallel world champion
Mathieu Faivre
also has a chance to grab a charm, even if the parallel is not an Olympic discipline.
Among the women, we cannot forget
Tessa Worley
, the flag bearer of the French team, winner of the last giant of the year 2021, who will be a candidate for a podium.
Finally, the mixed team parallel, a discipline inaugurated in 2018, will represent a last chance of a medal for the tricolor contingent.
The double for Perrine Laffont?
Freestyle skiing is one of the three disciplines where the Blues have medal potential, in addition to biathlon and alpine skiing.
Starting with
Perrine Laffont,
who, at 23, has already won everything, including the Olympic title four years ago in mogul skiing.
A medal is expected, the double hoped for.
Tess Ledeux
, the cousin of
Kevin Rolland
(involved in freestyle skiing), also the flag bearer of the Blues for the opening ceremony, is world champion in slopestyle and big air.
She will therefore be one of the favorites in these two races, despite her young age (20 years old).
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Benjamin Cavet
, in mogul skiing, reigning vice-world champion, will also be a serious contender for the podium.
Just like
Bastien Midol
and
Terence Tchiknavorian
, who occupy the first two positions in the general classification of the Skicross World Cup.
Gabriella Papadakis-Guillaume Cizeron, expected medal
Gabriella Papadakis
and
Guillaume Cizeron
, in figure skating, can be considered as one of the greatest medal chances during this Olympic fortnight.
All that's missing is the gold of the Games in the career of the pair of skaters, who won silver four years ago.
The two tricolor athletes are the big favorites to conquer the title.
Finally, in snowboarding,
Julia Pereira
de
Sousa Mabileau
, silver in this discipline in Pyeongchang, has another chance to stand on the podium.
In
cross-country skiing,
Richard Jouve
and
Lucas Chanavat
, very fit in recent weeks, will also represent chances of medals in the free sprint at the Olympic Games.
Collectively, the Blues can shine, as they did four years ago when they won (bronze in 4 x 10 km and in the team sprint).