This weekend, in Antibes, the wheelchair basketball TQP (Paralympic qualification tournament) took place, and the French simply performed flawlessly to qualify for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. The French men's team defeated Iran, Canada, the Netherlands and then Morocco on Monday evening.
In the den of the Antibes Sharks, the Blues largely dominated Morocco to validate their ticket for the Games. From the first quarter, the French took a 15-point advantage, and they ended up winning with a 27-point gap (87-60). Thus, France joins the United States, Australia, Great Britain, Spain, Germany, Canada and the Netherlands for the Paralympic competition.
Twenty years without Games
The French wheelchair basketball team has not participated in the Paralympic Games since the Athens Games in 2004. Not only are they putting an end to a 20-year drought, but they will also be playing at home. . The coach, Franck Bornerand, who arrived at the head of the Blues last summer, is delighted with this qualification.
“ It’s pure joy (…) it’s been a lot of work, we’ve come a long way. We managed to bring together something very great in human and sporting terms and that is the main thing”, rejoices the coach. “ Do we realize what we have just accomplished? Not yet, we are still in the fever of victory and we do not yet realize that the Olympics are here. »
The Paralympic competition will take place from August 29 to September 8 at the AccorArena in Bercy. The list of players who will participate in the Games will be known by July 4. In the meantime, it will be the turn of the French women's team to qualify for the Paralympic tournament. They will begin their TQP tomorrow, which takes place in Osaka until April 20. The French women's last qualification dates back to Rio 2016. They then lost to the Germans in the quarter-final.
