Kylian Mbappe says PSG will let him play 2024 Paris Olympics

By OlympicTalkMay 23, 2022, 12:34 PM EDT

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Kylian Mbappé reportedly said his club team, Paris Saint-Germain, is on board with him playing for France at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Mbappé, who last week signed a three-year extension to stay in Paris through the Olympics, indicated Monday that the club will release him to play at the Games, should he be chosen for the team, according to multiple French reports.

Last October, Mbappé called the Olympics “the DNA of sport” and “the best opportunity for an athlete to live their dream.”

Olympic soccer roster rules for 2024 haven’t been published yet, but, traditionally, men’s teams are allowed three players over the age of 23. Mbappé will be 25 come the Paris Games.

Mbappé, the breakout of France’s 2018 World Cup champion team, was not on France’s roster for the Tokyo Games.

PSG had no choice but to let Mbappé play at the European Championship last June and July. But clubs control player availability for the Olympics. Most stars do not compete in two major tournaments in one summer for national teams. Clubs prefer they rest ahead of their league seasons.

Without Mbappé, France was eliminated in group play in Tokyo after losses to Mexico and Japan.

PSG wrote a letter to the French Football Federation (FFF) in early 2020, before the Olympic postponement, indicating Mbappé would not be released, according to L’Equipe.

If Mbappé plays at the Paris Games, it will be reminiscent of 2016, when FC Barcelona allowed Neymar to play at his home Olympics in Rio.

Barelona and Neymar struck a deal. Neymar sat out that summer’s Copa America Centenario. Mbappé’s other possible tournament in summer 2024 is the European Championship hosted by Germany.

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French Open: Daniil Medvedev stunned by 172nd-ranked qualifier

By OlympicTalkMay 30, 2023, 1:31 PM EDT

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No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev was eliminated by 172nd-ranked Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild at the French Open, the first time a top-two men’s seed lost in the first round of a major in 20 years.

Seyboth Wild, a 23-year-old in his second-ever Grand Slam main draw match, prevailed 7-6 (5), 6-7 (8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in more than four hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

“I’ve watched Daniil play for, like, my entire junior career until today, and I’ve always dreamed about playing on this court, playing these kind of players,” he said. “In my best dreams, I’ve beaten them, so it’s a dream come true.”

Seyboth Wild overcame the ranking disparity, the experience deficit (it was his first five-set match) and cramps. He began feeling them in the second set, and it affected his serve.

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

Seyboth Wild, who had strictly played in qualifying and lower-level Challenger events dating to February 2022, became the first man to take out a top-two seed at a Slam since Ivo Karlovic upset Lleyton Hewitt at 2003 Wimbledon, which ended up being the first major won by a member of the Big Three.

The last time it happened at the French Open was in 2000, when Mark Philippoussis ousted No. 2 Pete Sampras.

It’s the most seismic win by a Brazilian at the French Open — and perhaps any major — since the nation’s most successful man, Gustavo Kuerten, won his third Roland Garros title in 2001.

Tuesday marked the 26th anniversary of Kuerten’s first big splash in Paris, a third-round win over 1995 French Open champion Thomas Muster en route to his first Roland Garros title.

As a junior, Seyboth Wild won the 2018 U.S. Open and reached a best ranking of eighth in the world. Since, he played eight Grand Slam qualifying tournaments with a 1-8 record before advancing through qualifying last week.

The 2021 U.S. Open champion Medvedev entered the French Open having won the first clay tournament title of his career at the Italian Open, the last top-level event before Roland Garros.

Medvedev’s defeat leaves no major champions in the bottom half of the men’s draw. The top seeds left are No. 4 Casper Ruud, last year’s French Open and U.S. Open runner-up, and No. 6 Holger Rune. No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 3 Novak Djokovic play their second-round matches in the top half on Wednesday.

Women’s seeds to advance Tuesday included No. 6 Coco Gauff, who rallied past 71st-ranked Spaniard Rebeka Masarova 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, plus No. 1 Iga Swiatek, No. 4 Elena Rybakina and No. 7 Ons Jabeur in straight sets.

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Olympians, Paralympians star on Top Chef World All-Stars in Paris

By OlympicTalkMay 30, 2023, 11:34 AM EDT

U.S. Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls get a taste of Paris in this week’s episode of Top Chef World All-Stars, premiering Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.

Olympic medalists Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Suni Lee and Paralympic medalists Mallory Weggemann and Hunter Woodhall team up with contestants for a cooking challenge in front of the Eiffel Tower, one year before the French capital hosts the Games.

Olympians have appeared on Top Chef before.

A 2020 episode set at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Coliseum included Diana Taurasi, Rai Benjamin, Nastia Liukin, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Christian Coleman and Kerri Walsh Jennings.

A January 2018 episode featured figure skater Meryl Davis, freeskier Gus Kenworthy and skeleton slider John Daly, one month before the PyeongChang Winter Games.

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