In Villeneuve-d’Ascq, on the set of yet another remake of “Lost Illusions”,
The French handball teams made history at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Both won the Olympic title in a stadium that was devoid of life due to health restrictions linked to Covid.
Three years later, we were going to see what we were going to see. The 27,000 people present at each of the Bleu(e)s final phase matches at the Pierre-Mauroy stadium in Villeneuve-d’Ascq were to lead Niko Karabatic and Tamara Horacek’s teams to the double that the people were demanding. “Carried away by the crowd”, as Edith Piaf sang, whose powerful voice so often resonated during these Games…
Beaten in the final, the French women were cheered during the silver medal ceremony. They had Pierre-Mauroy vibrating in the quarter and especially in the semi, but today the Norwegians were too strong #Handball #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/pqGeRjRgkx
— NicolasStival (@NicolasStival) August 10, 2024
I accept
Well no, actually. Guillaume Gille’s team stumbled in the quarter-finals on Wednesday against Germany (34-35 aet), in conditions that we prefer not to recall. And Olivier Krumbholz’s team, after a superb tournament, exploded on the last step, torpedoed by unbeatable Norwegians this Saturday (21-29).
Once again, as since the beginning of the fortnight, with handball having replaced basketball in the second week of the Games, the driving role of the blue-white-red stands was highlighted in the mixed zone. “27,000 people have been here for three games, we have to pay tribute to them,” insisted young Léna Grandveau. “They pushed us all the way, and we gave it our all.”
Party despite defeat
“The public’s attitude was extraordinary from start to finish,” rejoiced Olivier Krumbholz. “When I came back for the medal ceremony, no one had left. It will remain an unforgettable memory for us.” The coach with 15 Olympic, European and world medals – who did not want to make his departure, which was almost certain, official to the press – was cheered, after being “pushed” to the front of the stage by his captain Estelle Nze Minko.
The silver medallists, along with their podium colleagues, orchestrated a giant clap full of enthusiasm despite the defeat, covered by the “Allez les Bleues” of a magnanimous crowd. But in the meantime, it was the Norwegians who left with the pompom despite the support of 99% of the fans present this Saturday for their unfortunate opponents.
Because Pierre, 45 years old and wearing a “Lacrabère 64” jersey, may have worn out his vocal cords for 60 minutes, he was not the one who could stop the diabolical Henny Reistad and her friends, even if he kept a license, just in case, to give a helping hand to the reserve team of his Béarn club.
A formidable tool (especially when you are used to the Toulouse Stadium built under the Third Republic), the usual lair of Losc has however systematically transformed into a graveyard of French illusions in the matches that really matter, since its inauguration in 2012.
Judge for yourself:
- Davis Cup Final 2014: Gaël Monfils who stuck three straight sets to Roger Federer (6-1, 6-4, 6-3) to put France back on level terms after Tsonga’s defeat against Wawrinka, it’s simply unforgettable. The problem is that this fabulous success didn’t have any offspring. Swiss triumph 3-1 with the last point brought by a merciless Rodgeur for Richard Gasquet at the moment of conquering his first (and only) silver bowl.
- Final stages of the 2015 European Men’s Basketball Championship: more than 200,000 people in one week in the suburbs of Lille. With an apotheosis awaited by an entire people: the “back-to-back” of Tony Parker’s team, two years after its victory in Slovenia. But the final won by Spain was played without the Blues, victims of the biggest disappointment in their history on the part of the Spanish (75-80) led by a supernatural Pau Gasol (40 points), and very vengeful after their defeat at the same stage in 2013.
- Final round of the 2018 Nations League of volleyball: winners of the World League the previous year, Earvin Ngapeth and his mates won their first three matches, including a very complicated semi-final against the United States in the tie-break with the support of an incandescent crowd. The final? A stalemate against Russia (0-3).
- Davis Cup Final 2018: France – Croatia? 1-3. Despite the hard-fought victory of the Herbert-Mahut pair, the Blues bite the dust. Chardy against Coric, Tsonga against Cilic and Chardy against the same Cilic take the same rate: three sets to zero.
- Women’s handball final at the 2024 Olympic Games: no need to add anything, right?
So, we see the most knowledgeable among our readers getting upset: France still won the 2017 Davis Cup final in Villeneuve-d’Ascq. That’s true. But should we remind you that Lucas Pouille and then Jo-Wilfried Tsonga each took a hit against David Goffin, the number 1 of the neighbors? And that the Blues only won by beating a spectral Steve Darcis twice in singles (ten games scored in two matches) and by dismissing in doubles, thanks to the Gasquet-Herbert duo, the rather relative threat represented by the Bemelmans – De Loore pair.
Come on, let’s be honest and serious again, after having tried to exorcise as best we could this afternoon even more chilled by Norway than by the air conditioning. We will return with pleasure to this sublime Pierre-Mauroy stadium. But for a concert, or at a pinch for a Losc – TFC.
