Candidate to be France’s flag bearer during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, Florent Manaudou does not wish to campaign for the role, he told AFP on Wednesday.
“I’m not the campaigning type. I don’t necessarily like the political side. I believe that athletes will have to choose as they want,” he said during a meeting organized by his equipment manufacturer Puma in Paris.
This year, for the first time, the four standard bearers of the French Olympic and Paralympic teams will be elected by their peers.
The federations will each be able to present one candidate. The vote will then be carried out with all the athletes of the French delegation and the names of the four elected should be revealed in mid-July before the opening ceremony on July 26.
“I am very happy that all the athletes are voting. I think it’s the best election system we’ve had since the beginning,” he continued.
The 33-year-old swimmer, Olympic champion in 2012, believes that his participation in the opening ceremony planned on the Seine should not disrupt his competition. “I don’t think I’m losing any energy. I’m competing mostly at the end of the week and I’m a fairly experienced athlete. I also think that the opening ceremony will be a little less demanding in terms of energy than the other ceremonies.
At the Paris Games, Florent Manaudou will try to win a fourth Olympic medal in his favorite race, the 50m freestyle, and also believes in the chances of the 4x100m medley relay to secure a podium.
“Historically, it was more the 4×100 crawl relay which was (medal-winning). But here I think the strongest relay will be the 4x100m medley,” he said.
Besides Manaudou, this relay could be composed of Léon Marchand in breaststroke, Maxime Grousset in butterfly and Mewen Tomac or Yohann Ndoye-Brouard in backstroke. “It is certain that this relay is potentially medal-winning, so it is with pleasure that I will make my contribution,” he declared.