Basketball: “Now it's time for the youngsters”, after fifteen years with the Blues, Nicolas Batum makes his international retirement official

With the Blues, “Batman” notably won two Olympic silver medals and a European title. MAXPPP – Manu Reino

At 35, the winger of the French basketball team, silver medalist at the Paris Olympics, announced that he was hanging up his blue jersey on Tuesday, September 17.

Nicolas Batum, captain of the French basketball team, has made his international retirement official on his X account after fifteen years marked by numerous podiums, including victory at Euro 2013, the only title in the history of Les Bleus.

“It is now time for me to close this magnificent chapter and pass the baton to the new generation”, he wrote on Monday on his X account. This message only makes official a decision taken at the end of the final lost against the USA at the Paris Games.

"I had planned that this would be my last (competition). Finishing in this competition, with this match against this team, is special. It's a feeling that's hard to describe in the heat of the moment. “I'm happy but a little sad at the same time,” he declared to the press.