A major player in the gold medal won by the Bleus du VII the day after the opening ceremony of the Games, Antoine Dupont returned to the Top 14 after an electric summer.
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His crazy summer is behind him, Antoine Dupont has returned to training in Toulouse, more than two months after leading the team France rugby sevens to the Olympic title in Paris. The scrum-half had made several sporadic appearances in recent weeks on the side fields of the Ernest-Wallon stadium, but this time he is back for good.
Best player in the Top 14 and best Blue of last season
Considered one of the best rugby players in the world, the 27-year-old spent last week in the United States, where he tried his hand at American football and met basketball stars LeBron James and football Lionel Messi. Stade Toulouse, reigning French and European champion, had a mixed start to the season in the league in his absence. It currently occupies fifth place in the ranking after two consecutive defeats against Bordeaux-Bègles (16-12), the first at home since February 2022, then at Castres (28-23) on Saturday October 5.
Winner of the championship and the European Cup last season, Antoine Dupont was elected best player in the Top 14 and best Blue of the season, on September 23, during Rugby Night. For the flag bearer of the French delegation during the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games with the cyclist Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt, this is his third double best player in the championship and in the selection after those of 2021 and 2023.
Antoine Dupont succeeded in the challenge of rugby 7 and provided insight into this discipline during the Olympics. “You could say I took a riskhe said last September. But I think one of the biggest risks is never taking one. During these Games, France 7 players that no one knew proved to be incredible athletes and players. They had a spotlight and a light on them that they deserved but that they hadn’t had for several seasons. If I could allow that, so much the better. But it’s also thanks to them “.
From a farming family
Double European champion, Antoine Dupont recently returned to his crazy trajectory, from a village of 700 inhabitants to the XV of France. He spent his childhood in Castelnau-Magnoac in the Hautes-Pyrénées, in a farming family.
“When I was little, we were almost ashamed to say that we were farmers. The connotation was always negative, I remember that at school to write my parents’ profession, I wrote hotelier-restaurateur and I did not write farmer. And today we manage to be proud and to value that morehe explained. It’s always surprising when you come from a village of 700 inhabitants and you end up playing for the French team. It remains an exceptional journey “.
Antoine Dupont was at the parade of champions on September 14, Place de l’Etoile, in Paris. Also present at that of September 18 which celebrated the Toulouse athletes at Place du Capitole. He will join the Blues for the November tests.