the essential
Crowned best rugby sevens player of the year 2024, Antoine Dupont managed to win Olympic gold this summer in Paris, his goal for many months. The Stade Toulousain player made his teammates happy.
Would they slowly begin to descend from their cloud? The day after the compliments received by Antoine Dupont from Jérôme Daret, former manager of the French 7s team during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Stephen Parez in turn speaks out. A historic player in the French selection, he spoke at length in the “Basta Show”, a program hosted by former French XV international Mathieu Bastareaud.
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The Olympic champion notably mentioned the arrival of the scrum half from Stade Toulousain, who once again became captain of the French XV, within the French squad. “He brought everything that represents him a little: a lot of humility, a lot of precision… He's someone who wants to perform. We were keen to offer him a title that he can't necessarily have with rugby union” recounted the young thirty-year-old.
While recalling Antoine Dupont's objective: “He came with us for a specific purpose, that of having gold. He touches everything. Every time he touches something, he transforms it into gold . It’s something crazy.” The Haut-Pyrénées, crowned best player in the world in 2021, and author of the Champions Cup-Top 14 double before the Games, had a real impact on his new teammates. “He succeeded, perhaps unconsciously, in raising the level of the team, giving additional confidence which allowed us to do great things. On this, we will be forever grateful to him” launched the Parisian.
The latter also spoke of the relationship that was born between the two men/players who played in the same position during the Olympic tournament. “I felt the respect he had for me too, because I had been waiting for this for years. He was very happy to offer me this kind of thing, like us, we were very happy to to be able to offer him the Olympic medal” smiled Stephen Parez.
