Paris 2024 Olympics: Despite Julie Allemand’s withdrawal, the Belgian Cats can aim for a medal

This is a huge blow for the Belgian Cats. Barely recovered from his ankle operation, Julie German injured herself again this Thursday during training. A muscle injury with serious consequences since the leader of the national women’s basketball team must withdraw from these Olympic Games.

A few days before the Belgian team’s entry into the competition, which will face Germany on Monday in Lille, Julie Allemand has suffered a new ankle injury. The Liège native, who had been operated on at the end of March, will therefore not participate in her 2nd Olympic Games. A terrible disappointment for the Cats’ leader, as our consultant deplores Pierre Cornia : “It’s first and foremost a blow for Julie who has worked hard for four months to return in time to be able to take part in these Olympic Games. She was on the verge of succeeding in this challenge since she even played part of the friendly match against Japan last Sunday but unfortunately a new muscle injury came to spoil the party. It’s also a setback for the coach Rachid Meziane who will be deprived of one of its key players. Especially when we know the impact of Julie Allemand in the Cats’ game but also her importance in the group”.

The Belgian Cats will therefore have to compete in these Games without their leader, who will be replaced by the young Nastja Claessens in the selection. Despite this last-minute defection, Pierre Cornia remains confident ahead of this Olympic tournament: “The Belgian team had a very good preparation without Julie Allemand. The Cats won all their matches with convincing results against nations like Spain, Canada, Serbia, China and Japan. That’s still something significant. The team therefore knows how to evolve without her. It would have been more annoying on a collective level if Julie had played all the preparation matches. However, that doesn’t take away from the importance of the player within the team. Her talent, her desire to win and her experience would have been good during the matches and it’s also one less rotation for the coach.”.