Year in Review: Paris 2024 victory crowns French golden generation

France entered the Paris 2024 Games as the only national team in men’s volleyball to ever have the opportunity of defending their Olympic title in front of their home fans.

The Europeans didn’t want to waste the opportunity to make history again after their successful campaign in Tokyo, in 2021, and, after a bumpy ride, in which they fed from the energy of their fans to find their best form at the South Paris Arena 1, they accomplished their goal, ensuring four more years of French domination in the international scene.

With the victory in front of their home fans, the French became just the third nation to successfully defend a men's Olympic title and the first in 36 years - the former USSR did it first, winning in Tokyo 1964 and Mexico City 1968, while the United States did the same in Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988.

The French won gold in Paris with basically the same roster that had triumphed three years earlier in Tokyo as ten players returned to defend the title – setters Benjamin Toniutti and Antoine Brizard, opposite Jean Patry, outside hitters Earvin Ngapeth, Trévor Clévenot, Yacine Louati and Kévin Tillie, middle blockers Barthélémy Chinenyeze and Nicolas Le Goff and libero Jenia Grebennikov.

“Three weeks ago, we couldn't believe things were going to happen like this,” Chinenyeze remarked. “We were so lucky to have the chance to play at the Olympics at home as the last time Paris hosted it was 100 years ago. We were just very happy to play here and to get to win our second Olympic title in front of our fans was just amazing. The atmosphere was incredible since the first day and we enjoyed it so much. We played very well in the last two matches and it was just the perfect ending for an amazing tournament for us.”

Besides the experience and pedigree of their players, the French also relied on the unwavering support of their home fans to triumph at the Olympics for a second straight time. Every time Les Bleus (The Blues, in French) stepped on the court, the hosts were welcomed by crowds of 10,000 people, who sang La Marseillaise, the country’s national anthem, before and during matches, and waved dozens of flags after each point.

“The fans were an amazing weapon for us here,” Patry commented. “They pushed us in every match and the atmosphere gave us a lot of energy to play. We have an amazing feeling and a lot of emotions now, it's just hard to explain them. Winning two in a row is incredible and to do it at home, it's unbelievable, I have no words.”

The French campaign in Paris can easily be split in two parts. During pool play, the defending champions were inconsistent, advancing to the next round after they won six of the nine points they competed for – they beat Serbia in the tie-breaker, swept Canada and lost to Slovenia also in five sets.

That facet of the Olympic champions continued in the quarterfinals, where they dropped the first two sets to Germany before coming back to secure the win that kept them alive. That match was a turning point in their campaign as after the incredible comeback, the French looked like a different team, sweeping Italy and Poland on their way to the top of the podium.

“Germany put us in difficult moments and we had to find solutions,” Clévenot reacted. “I felt that during that comeback we started playing more aggressively and got into a better spirit. That match against Germany pushed us to reach this level and we continued playing amazing volleyball until the end of the tournament.”

The French repeat victory had another thing in common with their triumph in Tokyo as Ngapeth emerged as the Most Valuable Player in their campaign. The Europeans had the core of the Dream Team, with Brizard, Clévenot, Patry and Grebennikov, while Jakub Kochanowski represented silver medalists Poland and Taylor Averill was picked from bronze medalists the United States.

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