While the final torchbearer mobilizes all questioning, the names of the flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024Olympic and Paralympic Games on July 26 and August 28 were also highly anticipated! Who will succeed Clarisse Agbegnenou, Samir Aït Saïd, Sandrine Martinet and Stéphane Houdet, who had this honor at the Tokyo 2020 Games?
Among the candidates to lead the Olympic delegation and represent their country, one man and one woman were chosen for each competition, in an electronic vote by all the athletes in the delegation. On the Olympic side, the French will be able to count on Mélina Robert-Michon in athletics and Florent Manaudou in swimming, while the Paralympic athletes chosen are Nantenin Keita in para-athletics and Alexis Hanquinquant in para-triathlon.
Present at every Olympic Games since Sydney 2000, Mélina Robert-Michon is a world reference in discus throwing, holding the French record and winning silver in 2016. Florent Manaudou, Laure's brother, wins his first ticket to the Olympic Games in London, where he will be crowned Olympic champion in the 50 m freestyle, then in 2016 and 2020, with three more medals.
Nantenin Keita is a top-level athlete, fille of Malian musician Salif Keita and ambassador for the rights of people with albinism. She medaled at the Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Alexis Hanquinquant took up para triathlon in 2015 and became world champion six times in a row! In 2021, he was Paralympic champion in his first appearance at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
