Table tennis at the Paris 2024 Olympics: “A waking dream”, “we can die in peace”, the emotions of Lebrun and Simon Gauzy after the team bronze

Les Bleus ont décroché la toute première médaille olympique par équipe du ping français. MAXPPP – LP/Olivier Arandel

Alexis, Félix Lebrun and Simon Gauzy were on cloud nine this Friday, August 9, after their team victory against Japan (3-2) which gave them the bronze medal.

Alexis Lebrun

“A completely crazy match, we went through all the emotions. It's incredible. The comeback isn't easy. I don't know what to say. We are living a waking dream!

I bow but I don't give a damn

In my singles match, I had trouble expressing myself, he really bothered me. I bowed out but I didn't care at all.

On the last five points, I was focused, I didn't allow myself to live it to the fullest. What he did today is one of the greatest feats in ping pong. It's crazy with Harimoto who is playing extremely well. He showed that he is a huge champion. It's historic. I was very scared. The Japanese played a great match, Félix was tense. But what he did is great. We are on the right track. We are on the right track.

It was an incredible adventure. We had competition in singles when we started training in doubles. It went wonderfully. We had a blast at these Olympics… It's a new life, it was super cool. It's a sport that gives you emotions, that drives you crazy."

Félix Lebrun

"The end of the match was very tense, it was hard to finish. When I scored the last point, it was incredible.

My five points against Harimoto? I don't remember anymore. I forbade myself from giving up, I had a 5 or 10% chance of winning but I gave everything for the team. It was an important point, I knew it. I'm so happy to get out of it. He dominates the final, it was incredible.

Making history, you don't really realize it. But it's a huge accomplishment.

In the last singles, it was the match in which I was the most tense of the competition. I knew I was the favorite, everyone knew it. I would have felt very bad losing to everyone. Of course I doubted. At 2-1, when I lost the set, I said to Nath (Nathanaël Molin, coach of the Blues): “I don't really know how to serve anymore…” I changed a little bit on the last set and I dared at the end. I followed my instinct and it paid off.

You don't really realize that you're making history. But it's a huge accomplishment.

Now, I'm a little tired, it was long but it was worth it. I loved it from A to Z. I lost to a stronger team (twice against the Chinese Fan Zhendong), we have no regrets. Gold (in the team event) is far away for now but the goal will be to tease (the Chinese), beat them and if it can happen in Los Angeles (in 2028)…"

Simon Gauzy

"I took a few seconds, I exploded. I saw my parents, my wife, my son. I burst into tears. I couldn't escape it. You can die peacefully after that. All that for that, it's worth it. It's the best day of my life after the birth of my son.

We play our best doubles at the most important moment. I was very tense and yet, I play an incredible first set.

I remember the time when I wasn't living well (the competition with the Lebrun brothers). But I realized that we could do something great.

We said to ourselves that it would be hard for Félix, that he would end up losing a match but he never loses. We had some difficult times in the last match…

I remember the time when I wasn't living well (the competition with the Lebrun brothers). But I realized that we could do something great."