A historic double for French judokas and cyclists, an unprecedented medal for archery… What to remember from the day of August 3

France is currently in 3rd place in the medal table with 41 medals, including 12 gold.

The day after an exceptional and historic day for the French team, between Teddy Riner’s third individual gold medal at the Olympics, Léon Marchand’s fourth gold medal at these Games and the BMX triple to name a few, the start of the weekend was looking calmer, Saturday August 3, on the Olympic sites for the Blues. But these Paris Olympics are not like the others for the French athletes and medals have still fallen into their bag.

Camille Jedrzejewski hits the silver at 25 pistol m

Reigning European Champion, Camille Jedrzejewski was one of the best medal chances for the French camp in shooting. At 22, she held her rank with great regularity.

She thus remained in contact with the podium throughout the final, after finishing 7th in the qualifications the day before, and even played a final “shoot-out” against the South Korean Yang Jiin, when they were tied at 37-37. The gold ultimately escaped her but the silver made her happy.

Lisa Barbelin in bronze

Lisa Barbelin has etched her name into the pantheon of archery. She became the first French woman to win a medal – bronze – in women’s individual.

The 24-year-old young woman from Moselle came with a clear goal: a medal. Mission accomplished. She imposed herself at last set against South Korean Hun-young Jeon (6-4). She had been eliminated in the semi-finals by Su-hyeon Nam (6-0).

Two Frenchmen on the podium in the road race

They could do nothing against the superiority of Remco Evenepoel. Valentin Madouas and Christophe Laporte offered the seventh and eighth medals to French cycling in the men’s road race on Saturday August 3.

Left sixty kilometers from the finishValentin Madouas took advantage of the work of Remco Evenepoel to resist the return of the chasing group, whose sprint was won by Christophe Laporte.

Team gold for French judo

The French judo team has won a double! After beating Japan in Tokyo in 2021 in the final, the French repeated the feat in Paris in front of their home crowd. Trailing 3-1, the Blues managed to get back into the game thanks to successive victories by Joan-Benjamin Gaba and Clarisse Agbégnénou.

Teddy Riner was drawn for the decisive fight. Gold medalist in the individual event the day before, the Frenchman won it after seven breathless minutes against Tatsuru Saito to once again bring French judo to the roof of Olympus.

Disappointment for French sabre fencers

Manon Apithy-Brunet, Sara Balzer and Sarah Noutcha lost in the small final of the team sabre at the Grand Palais against Japan (45-40). After the gold and silver in the individual event by Manon Apithy-Brunet and Sara Balzer, the fencers were aiming for gold. They were stopped in the semi-final by South Korea, before seeing their hopes of a medal evaporate against Japan despite a great start to the match.

The chocolate medal for the mixed swimming relay

The logic was respected in the 4x100m medley. Yohann Ndoye-Brouard (backstroke), Marie Wattel (butterfly), Béryl Gastaldello (freestyle) and, once again, the essential Léon Marchand (breaststroke) were unable to resist the attacks of the Americans, the Chinese and especially the Australians.

The blue relay, which came seventh in the qualifications, was not among the big favourites for the event, despite the presence of quadruple Olympic medallist Léon Marchand. And even though Ndoye-Brouard and Marchand had managed to place France in third position halfway through the relay, the Australians managed to catch up and overtake France in the butterfly. The mixed relay still set a French record in 3’40″96. The Americans, in gold, set a world record in 3’37″43.

Hervé Renard’s Blues eliminated in the quarter-finals

They were aiming for the Olympic medal, but they won’t get anything. The French football team, although favourites for this match, were eliminated by Brazil in the quarter-finals of the Olympic tournament (1-0). And the French can blame themselves. After a missed penalty in the 16th minute, Hervé Renard’s players never managed to capitalise on their superiority and conceded a goal in the 82nd minute of play.