Nelson Monfort does not like very rich athletes at the Olympic Games. Last week on France 5, the famous journalist from France Télévisions had criticized the basketball “Team USA”,
“these billionaire athletes” who come to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games without staying in the Olympic Village. Asked about this by The Parisianthe essential 71-year-old interviewer, who is officiating at his last Olympic Games, also questioned the presence of football at the Games.
“Football, tennis, golf, these are sports that I really like. Do they really have a place in the Olympic Games? These hyper-professional sports, which have their own calendar, do they really have a place in the Games? American basketball players are wonderful, extraordinary, but what do they have to do with a rower, even with a swimmer? There are hyper-professional sports that rub shoulders with athletes who earn less than 2,000 euros per month, there are sports that find their Grail, their light every four years and it’s great, and there are sports that don’t need the Games.”thus launched Nelson Monfort.
Football and tennis from the first Olympic Games
Surprisingly, all four sports mentioned are historical Olympic disciplines, as football and tennis were on the program for the first edition of the modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, golf was added four years later for the 1900 Paris Olympics (but was removed after 1904 before making its return in 2016) and basketball was inducted at the third edition in 1904 in Saint-Louis.
While the presence of football is clearly debatable, since the men’s tournament only welcomes U23 teams reinforced by three older players, basketball has written its legend at the Games. Mainly thanks to the United States team, of course, with the famous “Dream Team” of Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson, easy winner in 92 in Barcelona, but then with Kobe Bryant’s “Redeem Team” in 2008 and the “Avengers” of 2024 led by LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant.
