Eve Wembanyama, older sister of Victor, the French basketball prodigy, is also aiming for selection for the Paris Olympic Games. A deadline she thinks about ” every day “, she said Monday. Aged 22, she, like her illustrious brother, passed through basketball in its classic format (5 against 5), but converted to 3×3, which joined the Olympic program three years ago in Tokyo, to strengthen its chances of being at the Paris Games (July 26 – August 11).
“It’s now that it’s happening”
“I’ve thought about it every day for a year, when I joined the project”she declared during a press briefing organized at Insep by the French Basketball Federation (FFBB). “The Olympics in general, it’s an exceptional competition, as athletes, we work for it, it puts a kind of pressure which is good because you know that you have to do things well and that it’s now that it’s playing”, she continued. Eve Wembanyama, who joined the French 3×3 selection in July 2023, is today the youngest of the six players in the short list established by the French staff. There will be four left on July 8, when the selection for Paris-2024 will be revealed. “Until then, in 5×5, I played in league 2 and there, being able to play all year round against international teams and train with my teammates who are also excellent players, that also helps me progress », continued the Frenchwoman, speaking in front of a few journalists. Her last appearance dates back to the 2022-2023 season with Monaco, where she averaged 6.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 14 games. His profile, position 3 of 1.85 m, has everything to succeed in adapting to 3×3 basketball.
READ ALSO. 2024 Olympic Games. What if in the Wembanyama family, Eve participated in the Games?
The Olympics in 3×3
3×3 basketball, she added, “does not involve the same physical commitment, it is much faster, much more intense, even if the duration is shorter”. If she is not selected for Paris? “A selection is being made, but the collective comes first, we have all that in mind,” she replied, knowing that there will be no shortage of future deadlines, in Los Angeles in 2028 or in Brisbane four years later.
The French women’s 3×3 team, 2022 world champions, has qualified for the Paris Games since November 2023 thanks to its third place in the world behind China and the United States.
