Paris 2024: a huge success for our Rouge et Bleu athletes!

RAINING MEDALS IN judo

The first week got off to a particularly good start with Lucas Mkheidze in the -62kg category. The Frenchman, who had won bronze in Tokyo, improved on his performance by winning silver this time. The Rouge et Bleu judoka lost in the final to double Olympic medallist Yeldos Smetov.

But his performance set the tone for the other Parisian judokas, and the next day it was Amandine Buchard who climbed onto the podium, winning bronze in the -52kg category. The Frenchwoman had lost in the semi-final to Keldiyorova of Uzbekistan, but the Olympic runner-up rallied to take third place against Pupp of Hungary, thanks in particular to a kata-guruma in the golden score. Walide Khyar was not so lucky in the -66kg category, losing out in the fight for third place. It was a tough contest against Moldovan world number one Denis Vieru, who won by a waza-ari in the final seconds of the bout.

Next up were Alpha Djalo and Tato Grigalashvili in the -81kg category. Unfortunately, the Frenchman was stopped in the quarter-finals, but his Georgian clubmate managed to reach the final. Tato Grigalashvili won the silver medal against Japan's Takanori Nagase, the reigning Olympic champion.

The days went on and the medals continued to flow for the Rouge et Bleu judokas. Georgian Lasha Bekauri became Olympic champion for the second time after his first victory in Tokyo in the -90kg category. At the age of 24, he became the youngest back-to-back gold medal winner when he scored waza-ari against Japan's Sanshiro Murao in the final. Marie-Ève Gahié came seventh in the -70kg category.

It was then the turn of the heavyweights to perform, and Paris Saint-Germain was particularly well represented in this category with Romane Dicko and Teddy Riner. A firm favourite, the Frenchman did not disappoint, racking up one victory after another against powerless opponents. The final pitted him against Japan's Saito, weighing in at 172kg: a match masterfully won by our Rouge et Bleu judoka, thanks to an ippon that enabled him to become triple Olympic champion in the category. Romane Dicko would have liked the same outcome, but the Frenchwoman couldn't find the solution against Brazil's Beatriz Souza in the semi-final. In the end, she had to settle for the bronze medal.

Once the individual competition was over, it was time for the teams events! France, the reigning Olympic champions, had their sights set on another gold medal and Les Bleus went from strength to strength until the long-awaited final against Japan, three years after the Tokyo final. In a completely crazy scenario, France finally toppled the Japanese after a final battle with Teddy Riner against Saito, with the Frenchman snatching the gold medal in the golden score.

2 medals for our footballers

Paris Saint-Germain athletes also performed well in football, with our two male players taking home a medal each. Achraf Hakimi, captain of the Moroccan national team, won the bronze medal by beating Egypt 6-0 in their final game. The Atlas Lions had previously lost to Spain's Arnaud Tenas in the semi-finals (2-1). La Rojita's ‘keeper became Olympic champion defeating France 5-3 after extra time.

GOLD FOR Korbin Albert 

Paris Saint-Germain were also well represented in women's football, with no fewer than eight players taking part in the competition. Clare Hunt's Australia and Jennifer Echegini's Nigeria failed to progress beyond the group stages, finishing 3rd and 4th in their section respectively. As for Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Grace Geyoro, Sakina Karchaoui, Elisa De Almeida and Griedge Mbock, France made it through to the quarter-finals, where they lost 1-0 to Brazil.

Korbin Albert's USA, however, proved too strong for the Seleção, winning the gold medal match 1-0. The Parisian midfielder was able to celebrate her triumph on a pitch she knows well, with the final being played at the Parc des Princes, no less!

5 handballers in the knockout phase

Nikola Karabatic, Luka Karabatic and Elohim Prandi led Les Bleus to the quarter-finals of the competition. Unfortunately, Les Tricolores lost in extra-time to Germany in a thrilling match (35-34). While Nikola Karabatic played his last game for Paris Saint-Germain on 31 May at Bercy, the now ex-Parisian has now also played his final match for the France national team.

As for Omar Yahia, the Egyptian right-back was unable to help his team reach the final four, as the Pharaohs also lost in extra time, this time to Spain (29-28). The Paris Saint-Germain player was nonetheless a key figure for Egypt, which nevertheless reached the quarter-finals.

Lastly, Andreas Palicka and Sweden were in a similar situation, losing out to Denmark in the quarter-finals (32-31). But the Parisian club's last line of defence was outstanding in that final outing of the competition, making no fewer than 10 saves.