“Discriminating conditions”: for Clarisse Agbégnénou, the criteria for the nomination of the flag bearer for the Olympics are unfair

Judoka Clarisse Agbégnénou reacted on Twitter to the Linternaute and YouGov survey published yesterday on the French favorite standard bearer for the Olympics.

Yesterday, Linternaute.com and YouGov published an exclusive survey on the French people's favorite athletes to carry the flag of the French delegation for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Unsurprisingly, Teddy Riner was the most popular out of a sample of 1030 people representative of the French population (18) interviewed between March 1 and 4, 2024. He is ahead of a certain Kylian Mbappé, favorite among 18/24 year olds, and Antoine Dupont, in third position. Among the women, judoka Clarisse Agbégnénou, already flag bearer in 2020, came in first position ahead of cyclist Pauline Ferrand Prévot.

Problem, according to the Parisian, the CNOSF, which must unveil its criteria for selecting flag bearers this Wednesday, has decided to impose drastic rules. Rules which provoke controversy even before their formalization and dissatisfaction of the Olympic champion Clarisse Agbégnénou. In a tweet, she deplores a discriminatory decision contrary to the wishes of the French established in our survey.

In detail, according to Le Parisien, the flag bearer must be an athlete who has already participated in the Olympics. This already eliminates athletes like Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Dupont and Victor Wembanyama. Another condition: candidates must not have already been standard bearers in the past. You understood, Teddy Riner and Clarisse Agbégnénou would therefore be eliminated from the race.

Finally, the athlete must be beyond reproach and therefore never have been sanctioned by the courts. Nikola Karabatic would therefore also be eliminated from the race, he who was sentenced in 2016 to a two-month suspended prison sentence in an online betting case. Renaud Lavillenie, whose responsibility in a motorcycle accident (more than fifteen years ago) earned him an entry on part number 1 of his criminal record could also be dismissed...