By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber
PARIS (Reuters) – France power forward Victor Wembanyama said on Thursday he was ready to leave blood on the court in the men’s gold medal game at the Paris Olympics, where the hosts will face the winners of the semi-final between the United States and Serbia.
The towering Wembanyama, who plays for San Antonio Spurs in the NBA, appeared in front of reporters with a scratch on his neck that had begun to bleed and stain his white jersey after France clinched a spot in their second consecutive Olympic final with a 73-69 win over Germany.
“In our national anthem, we talk about blood, too. We’re willing to spill blood on the court,” Wembanyama said. “So it’s no big deal. If it allows us to win gold, I’m all for it.
“Take all of it,” he added, jokingly. “I mean, maybe half of it.”
France lost 87-82 to the U.S. in the Tokyo Games final.
The crowd at Bercy Arena in Paris has been noisily backing the home team and Wembanyama said he had never been so moved after a semi-final win.
“It was an incredible moment with the fans,” the 20-year-old said. “They made it hard for me not to cry.”
France now await the result of the clash between the star-studded U.S. and Serbia, led by reigning three-times MVP Nikola Jokic, which will be a rematch of the 2016 Rio gold medal game.
The U.S. have own the last four golds in a row.
“If it’s the USA, I think it’s going be an interesting game,” said French power forward Guerschon Yabusele.
“No disrespect to anybody else, but I feel we are kind of like the only team that can compete against them, just in terms of physicality.”
Shooting guard Nando de Colo said France would be underdogs whatever the result of the semi between the U.S. and Serbia which is being played later on Thursday.
“We are still the outsiders, whatever happens,” he said. “But we will do our best to trouble the team we will be playing against.”
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, Vincent Daheron and Steve Keating; Editing by Ken Ferris)
Comments