After the exploits of Antoine Dupont and the rugby 7s team that won gold at the Olympic Games, will the French team also produce a second great performance at the Paralympic Games? France made a successful entry into the competition by winning 53-51 against the Danes.
The opening ceremony has given way to the competition! On the Arena Champ-de-Mars, heated to white heat, the Blues of wheelchair rugby entered the competition on Thursday, August 29 against Denmark just after the three shots struck to start the evening session by the French judoka Amandine Buchard, a four-time Olympic medalist. With each point scored by France, the crowd roared. The Games fever is still there.
The French team, made up exclusively of male players, wants to shine in this sport which first appeared in the Paralympic Games as a demonstration discipline in Sydney in 2000.
Fast travel and shocks on the program
Four periods of eight minutes. Teams that are composed of only four players with forward passes allowed, the aim of wheelchair rugby, invented in 1977, remains the same as rugby itself: for the ball carrier to cross the opponent’s goal line. But the most important particularity is that the game is not played with an oval ball, but a round one.
In the last edition in Tokyo in 2021, Great Britain won the title against the United States. The French finished in sixth place. At home, they can count on Jonathan Hivernat, their captain.
- RFI
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