Paris 2024 Olympic Games: find out in detail who will be the flag bearers at the Olympic and Paralympic Games ceremonies

Les quatre porte-drapeaux des Jeux olympiques et paralympiques. MAXPPP

The four athletes who will serve as flag bearers at the Olympic and Paralympic Games were announced on Thursday July 11 by the CNOSF.

The discobole Mélina Robert-Michon and the swimmer Florent Manaudou will be the standard bearers of the French delegation at the opening ceremony of the Paris Games on July 26, an expected choice and announced Thursday by the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF).

The committee also revealed the pair of flag bearers for the Paralympic Games, which open on August 28. It will be made up of para-athletics champion Nantenin Keita, 39, medalist in Beijing-2008 (bronze in 400 m and silver in 200 m), London-2012 (bronze in 100 m ) and Rio-2016 (400m gold), and Alexis Hanquinquant, 38 years old and gold medalist in Tokyo in 2021 in triathlon for his first participation in the Paralympic Games .

Mélina Robert-Michon, the experience of the Olympics

"I very, very want to be able to carry the flag, to be able to represent this entire French team. I am proud to tell myself that it will perhaps be me", she said recently. From Sydney 2000 to Paris 2024, she has worked alongside several generations of athletes. "I'm preparing for my seventh Olympics but there are some for whom it will be the first and yet, we all have the same child's outlook on this event because it's something strong&quot ;, she explained.

Mélina Robert-Michon will be flag bearer. MAXPPP – STADION-ACTU

The 44-year-old Frenchwoman is a world reference in discus throwing. Thanks to remarkable longevity, the French record holder has a string of international podiums, culminating in a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Nantenin Keita, ambassador for the rights of people with albinism

Nantenin Keita is, at the same time, a high-level athlete, daughter of the great Malian musician Salif Keita and ambassador for the rights of people with albinism. Performance-wise, Nantenin is there: she was a medalist at the Paralympic Games in Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016.

Nantenin Keita will be flag bearer. MAXPPP – LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL

Graduated with a BTS in commercial action, she joined human resources in 2009 in order to promote the integration of disabled people and their development in the professional world.

Florent Manaudou, wins in blood

Aged 33, Florent Manaudou is preparing to compete in his fourth Olympic Games in Paris. In the shadow of his sister Laure, eternal muse of French swimming, he made a name for himself by becoming, to everyone's surprise, Olympic champion in the 50m freestyle in London in 2012, at 21 years, and only one year after his first selection in Blue.

Four years later, the Rio Olympics did not smile on him as much as he had hoped: he had to settle for silver in the 50m freestyle, in which he was the big favorite, and gleans a medal of the same metal with the 4×100 m relay. Overtaken by the daily wear and tear of a high-level swimmer, he then decided to leave the pools to take up handball with Aix-en-Provence.

Florent Manaudou will be standard bearer. MAXPPP – Laurent Lairys

Before launching a crazy challenge in spring 2019: diving back in, fifteen months before the 2020 Olympics, ultimately postponed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the crazy ambition to win back an Olympic medal. Successful bet! Nine years after his surprise Olympic coronation, Manaudou took silver at the Tokyo Games, less than two and a half years after his return to swimming.

The swimmer has won a medal in each of his Olympic participations and he will seek a fourth individual medal in Paris in his favorite race.

Alexis Hanquinant, favorite in his category

Alexis Hanquinquant will be standard bearer. XinHua – Xiong Qi

At 38 years old, Alexis Hanquiquant, six-time consecutive para-triathlon world champion, appears as the big favorite to succeed himself during the race scheduled for early September. L’ athlete launched into para triathlon in 2015 and participated in his first French championships in 2016.