Paris 2024 Olympics: why Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Dupont and Teddy Riner will not be flag bearers
S'il dispute ses premiers JO l'été prochain, Kylian Mbappé ne pourra pas prétendre au rôle honorifique de porte-drapeau. MAXPPP – Julien Mattia/Le Pictorium
The National Olympic Committee (CNOSF) revealed this Wednesday March 13 the criteria for designating the duo who will lead the French delegation on July 26. They exclude a large number of stars who could qualify.
We do not yet know who the flag bearers of the French delegation will be on July 26 during the opening ceremony of the Paris Games. But we know who can no longer be… Indeed, the criteria for designating the future pair of elected officials (a man and a woman), revealed this Wednesday by the National Committee Olympic Games (CNOSF) automatically exclude a large number of potential candidates.
Have already participated in the Olympics
The first obligation will in fact be to have already participated in the Olympic Games. Which puts stars like the footballer Kylian Mbappé, the rugby player Antoine Dupont or the basketball player out of the game Victor Wembanyama, who should play their first games.
Another important criterion is the need to never have held this honorary role during a previous Olympiad. Judokas Teddy Riner, standard bearer in 2016 in Rio, or Clarisse Agbégnénou (2021 in Tokyo) are therefore excluded…
The double Olympic judo champion has already denounced on her X account "people who work behind the scenes to impose discriminatory conditions."
Also read: Paris 2024 Olympic Games: "I am a candidate to be flag bearer for a second time", declares Clarisse Agbégnénou
Riner was the favorite of the French
Last condition put forward by the CNOSF: exemplarity, which presupposes having a clean criminal record. This eliminates in particular three other top-notch athletes: handball player Nikola Karabatic, convicted in 2012 in a sports betting case, pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, convicted in 2007 after an accident car, and the volleyball player Earvin Ngapeth, convicted in 2015 after the attack on a train controller.
A recent poll on the French preference for the flag bearers of the 2024 Olympics placed Teddy Riner in the lead ahead of Mbappé and Dupont. But the CNOSF and the National Paralympic Committee have been categorical in the criteria that will guide their choices.