“I’m shocked”: the top scorer of the French basketball team protests against her non-selection for the 2024 Paris Olympics

Sandrine Grunda se dit “choquée” par sa non-sélection pour les JO. MAXPPP – Stéphane GUIOCHON

Sandrine Gruda says "endure the situation".

The best scorer in the history of the French basketball team, Sandrine Gruda, said "shocked&quot ; of not having been selected on Thursday in the larger group selected to prepare for the Paris Olympics, where she planned to retire internationally at the age of 36.

"I'm shocked. I endure the situation. This wasn't my plan; I wanted to be able to stop after the Games, to thank the public one last time, for all these years gone by. And I won't be able to do that. Not even wearing this blue jersey one last time", declared the pivot (2 878 pts in 225 selections) in an article published by the specialized site Basket Europe on Friday.

In the French team since 2006 (225 caps)

Gruda, European champion in 2009, Olympic vice-champion in 2012 and bronze medalist in 2021, was not selected in the expanded group of 18 players who will prepare for the Olympics by coach Jean-Aimé Toupane, who made him his captain upon his arrival in the fall of 2021.

I don't mix emotions, I work on a sporting aspect

"I made choices about performance, we tried to build a team with the best possible chemistry, that didn’t work It was easy to tell him", explained Toupane on Thursday.

He affirmed that the non-selection of Gruda, whose season was punctuated by injuries, was in no way linked to the criticism she had leveled against him after the ’ rsquo;Euro-2023 : "I don't mix emotions, I work on a sporting aspect. There is none of that. I just want the best team possible."