Lavillenie, Manaudou, Agbegnenou, who is most likely to be elected flag bearer in Tokyo?

It’s an honor that sometimes hangs over minds, including the best prepared, even as Teddy Riner proved in Rio that the flag bearer’s curse was not inevitable. And then this time, there will be two of them, a man and a woman, to share the burden of being present everywhere, for oneself and for others. Twelve candidates, seven women and five men, agreed to be put forward by their federations. They will ultimately be decided by the 59 ambassadors of the federations involved in Tokyo. 20 minutes assesses the chances of the favorites: Renaud Lavillenie, Florent Manaudou, Melina Robert-Michon, and Clarisse Agbegnenou.

We are one and the same team 👊 #OneTeam pic.twitter.com/riBAsacwID

– France Team (@EquipeFRA) April 14, 2021

The most obvious: Renaud Lavillenie

“Hello, I am Renaud Lavillenie, member of the France team for more than ten years, two Olympic medals including one in gold in London, I held the world record for six years”. In ten seconds of presentation, the pole vaulter gives airs of inevitable victory to his candidacy. He admits that he was no match in Brazil as Teddy Riner “was the ideal candidate”, but Lavillenie has the right to consider that he is a bit of the Riner of 2021.

“With all the experience that I can have, and the pressure in less of the result, because I have everything he does behind me, it can be a magnificent reward to be able to lead this team of France towards always more success and prepare it for France 2024. ”If he no longer dominates his discipline as in the heyday, the veteran of London has resolved a possible problem of sporting legitimacy by returning to a very good level for six months. The new formula is a gift from heaven (no more traditional man / woman alternation which would have condemned it), and it has a ready-made answer for those who think that the presence of Robert-Michon among women can serve him: ” Maybe one of us will be wronged, but it’s been since Marie-Jo Pérec in 1996 that athletics, the No. 1 sport of the Games, has not had a standard bearer in France. “

Strong points : The prize list, the speech, and a contest for eternity that remains in the hearts of all sports fans in London. The planets are aligned for Clermontois.

Weak points : Like Manaudou, he was able to lug around an individualistic image for a time, but he has been involved for a long time in the authorities (member of the IAAF commission), and the way in which he has taken on the competition in his sport shows a form of maturity, which makes it a potential Estanguet when it has put away the poles.

Most deserving: Melina Robert Michon

We knew more or less the age of the great specialist in the French discus throwing (41 years old), but all the same: we fell from our chair when the Lyonnaise told us that she was already in the squad at the Olympic Games in Sidney, in 2000. “I see myself behind David Douillet, with big eyes. For me, he was in another dimension. Flag bearer, it was something inaccessible, I never could have imagined myself one day being a candidate in this role. “

It’s almost a campaign argument. Robert-Michon’s life journey can serve as an example for all young athletes who think that the Games are not for them, or just to take pictures and tell the story of the getaway like an Erasmus trip to the family on the way home. “I’m going to play my sixth Olympics, and it took me a long time to bring home a medal. This shows that there is no straightforward course, that there are plenty of ways to reach the highest level. From the moment you do not let go, anything is possible. “

Obviously, she will have to deal with the imposing figure of Renaud Lavillenie, if he is chosen among the boys, since it is difficult to imagine two flag-bearers from athletics, but that does not worry him: “It is already a great pride for the athletic federation to have two candidates, I think. We have a different course, there are two places, it can only be positive. “

Strong points : The “mother” of the French delegation, who has shown that you can be an Olympic medalist through hard work. An example to follow.

Weak points : Low notoriety outside of athletics and the shadow of Lavillenie.

The most detached (apparently): Florent Manaudou

The London Olympic champion with eclectic desires has often given the impression of riding above all for his apple, without this being necessarily pejorative. In London and Rio, for example, he preferred not to participate in the opening ceremony so as not to burn emotional cartridges before the hour, while swimming opens hostilities in the first week. Looking back, he concedes that once in his life, “he would love to be part of the party from start to finish. I missed a few things in my career because I favored the athlete ”.

Is he able to blend in with the collective and go beyond his own role? Laure’s little brother rightly believes that he has been the big brother of many for a long time already, and that he has “the experience” required to be a good standard bearer, after a career crossed “at the same time by moments of glory and moments of doubt ”. But we don’t feel he is more eager than that to embark on a frantic campaign with his peers to win the cup: “I don’t like that word, it reminds me too much of the form of political campaigns, which do not interest me. . I hope to be elected, but I know that if it is someone else, they will do it very well. And I still have work to prepare my own performance, I don’t want to push that [sa candidature] to the maximum. “

Strong points : Embodies a flagship discipline of the Games, the last known face of the most glorious generation in the history of French swimming, a family saga ultra-well-known to the French.

Weak points : Still considered a soloist until now, does he really want to fully embody this role of reaching out to others all the time?

The most demanding: Clarisse Agbegnenou

Ten minutes in video with the young judo champion were enough to convince us of her great motivation for the position. “It’s really something that comes from me. I had already been the flag bearer for the European Games, it took me to the guts to give this impetus to the delegation, to support all these athletes. In Rio, I went to the opening ceremony against the advice of my coaches and it was a magical moment. If I can do the Tokyo one with the flag, I hope I can give people that gleam in their eyes that I had in Rio. “

And don’t worry about his individual ordeal. The Frenchwoman has still not digested her defeat in the final in Brazil – “since then I have been forgiven with four world championship titles” – and is counting on the France team to “take her to conquer the only missing medal. to his record ”. This is perhaps the only note of caution that we can add from our side. The Olympic runner-up still evokes Rio as “a difficult moment” five years later, while 90% of the French athletes engaged in the Games will not see the color of a medal. It will therefore be necessary to be able to boost the morale of friends and girlfriends even in the event of a bad surprise on the tatami mat.

Strong points : THE big favorite in its category in the country that invented judo, the equivalent of Riner for girls, and an immense desire to be chosen.

Weak points : She is so sure to be an Olympic champion that failure in this regard could trigger a negative dynamic in the rest of the delegation.