Propelled to the rank of superstar after his enchanted Olympic Games with five medals including four individual titles, Léon Marchand pressed the pause button at the end of the year to better recharge his batteries and tackle the future. After such a rich year, what can we expect from him in 2025? “That’s a good question! Already he will not be Olympic champion in 2025, that we can say,” jokes the National Technical Director of French swimming Julien Issoulié. “But there will still be the World Championships in the summer. So we will see how he will resume and a priori, he will aim for performance. »
Leon Marchand won four gold medals in Paris.
AFP
At the end of the year, the Toulouse resident in any case needed to take a step back. “Exhausted” by an “intense” year, he preferred to skip the last international competition of 2024, the short course Worlds, held at the beginning of December in Budapest. At least that was necessary to recover from the strong emotions of his magical Olympic summer.
With four gold medals, including an unforgettable double in two hours, Léon Marchand, celebrated like a hero in a swimming pool at the melting La Défense Arena, shifted to another dimension almost overnight.
2. Insatiable Antoine Dupont
Away from the French XV for almost a year to devote himself to his Olympic dream, French rugby superstar Antoine Dupont has once again pushed his limits.
AFP
Antoine Dupont has won everything at club and with the French 7s team.
Adapting almost immediately to the specificities of rugby sevens, the scrum half became an essential link in the French team, with a world title in June in Madrid and above all an Olympic title in Paris, for the first time. gold medal for the French delegation at the 2024 Olympic Games.
Already crowned with his club Toulouse in the Top 14 and the Champions Cup, Dupont concluded this extraordinary season with the title of best player in the world at VII.
3. Teddy Riner for eternity
Teddy Riner entered the sporting legend in Paris by becoming the most successful French athlete at the Olympic Games with five titles. At 35, the French judoka won a fifth individual medal, the third gold after London (2012) and Rio (2016).
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Teddy Riner now has five Olympic titles.
As a good captain, he then largely contributed to the coronation of the French mixed team, which retained its gold medal acquired three years earlier in Tokyo. At the end of a crazy scenario since he won the decisive fight against Japan after being drawn. At the top of his art this summer, Teddy Riner does not intend to stop there and is aiming for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. He will be 39 years old.
The “France” rankings of the CL editorial team
1. Léon Marchand (swimming) 54
2. Antoine Dupont (rugby) 21
3. Teddy Riner (judo) 12
4. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (MTB) 8
5. Cassandre Beaugrand (triathlon) 6
6. The Lebrun brothers (table tennis) 5
7. Olympic hat-trick in BMX 3
French rugby sevens team 3
French men's 3×3 basketball team 3
Stade Brestois (football) 3
Violette Dorange (veil) 3
12. Julia Simon (biathlon) 3
13. French volleyball team 2
Manon Apithy-Brunet (fencing) 2
Aurélie Aubert (boccia) 2
Victor Wembanyama (basketball) 2
French men's basketball team 2
18. Stade Toulousain (rugby) 1
Kauli Vaast (surfing) 1
French women's basketball team 1
