JP PARIS 2024: VOLLEYBALL GOES FOR GOLD!

It’s a historic double for the volleyball blues, gold medalists in Paris! Some of them, such as Antoine Brizard, Téo Faure and Earvin Ngapeth, are alumni of the CREPS Volleyball Pôle Espoir.

What a feat!

The French men’s volleyball team retained their Olympic title on Saturday, August 10. Earvin Ngapeth’s Les Bleus defeated Poland in the final of the Paris Olympics, three years after winning the title in Tokyo. Gold medallists once again, Les Bleus complete a historic double.

The French, holders of the Olympic title and the Nations League (2022, 2024), faced the Poles, the world’s leading nation, reigning European champions (2023) and last year’s Nations League winners (2023). It was no easy task for Andrea Giani’s men. However, Les Bleus got off to the best possible start, as they had done in their semi-final showdown with Italy, winning the first set by a clear margin (25-19).

Even though the second set was initially more tightly contested, the French put in a sumptuous end to the set, stringing together six consecutive points to take the lead (25-20). Impressive on the block, with Ervin Ngapeth embodying the golden generation of French volleyball, and Jean Patry making all the right moves throughout the match, the French team offered up one beautiful point after another. With an experienced team, including only two players under the age of 30 at kick-off (Jean Patry, 27, and Barthélémy Chinenyeze, 26), Les Bleus coped perfectly with the pressure of the third set, which they won 25-23. The French, with two gold medals in volleyball at the Olympics, become the fourth nation, behind Brazil, the USSR and the USA, who have three titles each.

Among the blue team, 3 Olympic medallists are former CREPS de Bordeaux polo players: Antoine Brizard, Téo Faure and Earvin Ngapeth. The CREPS de Bordeaux was pleased to welcome the French team for pre-Olympic training sessions.