Basketball: Latto-Montpellier players Romane Bernies and Migna Touré called into an expanded list to prepare for the Olympics

Romane Bernies parmi les 19 joueuses présélectionnées. Midi Libre – SYLVIE CAMBON

Le sélectionneur Jean-Aimé Toupane a retenu 18 joueuses, jeudi 16 mai, dans une liste élargie pour préparer les Jeux olympiques de Paris.

The coach of the French women's team Jean-Aimé Toupane selected 18 players, Thursday May 16, in an expanded list to prepare for the Paris Olympic Games. Among them, the Gazelles of Lattes-Montpellier  Romane Bernies and Migna Touré.

He also retained in his group of 18 players the leader Marine Fauthoux, launched in a race against the clock to participate in the Olympics after having been operated on in February for a herniated disc. "She is in good shape, is training, and has done her rehabilitation with great satisfaction. She will be ready to start again with us", commented Toupane.

Surprise absence of Sandrine Gruda

The surprise of this list is the absence of Sandrine Gruda, former captain and best scorer in the history of the French basketball team. Gruda (36 years old, 2 ;nbsp;878 pts in 225 caps), European champion in 2009, Olympic vice-champion in 2012 and bronze medalist in 2021, had a 2023-24 season punctuated by injuries. The pivot, who had participated in Euro-2023 at the end of which she had pointed out the responsibility of coach Jean-Aimé Toupane after the elimination in the semi-finals, had missed the last rally & ndash; the Olympic qualifying tournament in China in February.

Les 1⃣8⃣ Bleues retenues par Jean-Aimé Toupane pour préparer les Jeux 🇫🇷👊#PassionnémentBleu pic.twitter.com/uzSnfktNBq

— Équipes de France de Basket (@FRABasketball) May 16, 2024

"Sandrine is an exceptional player having always worn the French team jersey with a lot of commitment, it was not an easy decision. We tried to respect the player, declared Toupane to the press. "I met Sandrine. I have known for two years that it was an important event for her. I made choices about performance, we tried to build a team with the best possible chemistry, it wasn't easy to tell him, a he added.

A group reduced to 12 names

Les Bleues, assembled from June 6, will face Finland before the Games (June 29 and July 1 in Mouilleron-le-Captif), Serbia (July 12, Décines-Charpieu), Japan (July 19, Reims) and China (July 21, Reims). The group will be reduced to 12 elements for the Olympics. The group of 19 pre-selected:

Meneuses : Marine Fauthoux, Romane Bernies, Leïla Lacan, Carla Leite, Marie Pardon

Wing-backs: Marine Johannès, Pauline Astier, Valériane Ayayi, Marie-Paule Fopposi, Sarah Michel Boury (cap), Janelle Salaün, Migna Touré, Gabby Williams

Interior: Marième Badiane, Alexia Chéry, Dominique Malonga, Ilana Rupert, Ana Tadic