The criteria chosen to become a flag bearer during the Paris Olympic Games make at least one person happy.
Before playing the Giant Open on March 23 and 24, Florent Manaudou gave an interview to the newspaper l'Equipe where he reiterated his desire to carry the French flag during the opening ceremony: "Obviously I want to, I was already a candidate in 2021, I am again this year.
There are several of us in the running.
I’m within the criteria, that’s good.”
The French swimmer, Olympic champion in London in 2012, also said he was satisfied with the criteria for the selection of the flag bearer: “For me, the values of Olympics and being a flag bearer means having already made the Olympics and having performed well at the Games.
There is room for everyone, I'm happy that it's an Olympian doing it in Paris and I hope it will be me.
If the athletes think I would be a good standard bearer and they like me, that will be good.
If they think it will be another, it will be another.
That's the game. "
Indeed, the criteria for Paris 2024 have changed: for the first time, the chosen woman and man will be elected by the athletes of the French delegation.
They must also “embody the ethics and Olympic values” as explained by the president of the CNOSF, David Lappartient, which sets aside athletes already suspended for doping or for legal cases like Nikola Karabatic.
A choice known in mid-July
To be eligible, the lucky winner must have already participated in the Olympic Games, which excludes Kylian Mbappé, whose presence is very uncertain, or even Antoine Dupont.
Those who have already been standard bearers like Teddy Riner cannot run again.
A choice criticized by Clarisse Agbégnénou, who had this honor in 2021, on her X account:
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There are the French and the figures who express a certain will and on the other side people work behind the scenes to impose discriminating conditions to designate the standard bearers.
The chosen athletes will be known in mid-July.