It's a soap opera that stirs the sport world: Rafael Nadal's infiltrations during Roland-Garros, where he won the trophy for the fourteenth time.
These treatments are prohibited in endurance sports like cycling, but allowed in tennis. They have sparked heated debates on social media and were condemned by Thibaut Pinot, a Groupama-FDJ cyclist, and William Martin, a Cofidis William Martin counterpart.
Evan Fournier, star of the French basketball team and player for the New York Knicks of the NBA, expressed his disapproval with Thibaut Pinot via Twitter.
"I find this comment very annoying. Five years ago, I experienced a severe pain in my foot and had to be anesthetized so that I could play. It contains no product, and everything is legitimate. It was actually quite difficult to use. It's not doping; it's medical. As if infiltrations are a matter of adding products to improve performance. Why be condescending when we can talk about heroes? However, his tweet was not what I liked," the 29-year old basketball player wrote.
Emilien Jacquelin was not pleased with the following words: The double pursuit world champion invited himself to the conversation to defend the words used by the cyclists. Doping in sport: Double standards An injection is prohibited in endurance sports. If you are hurt, you must stop. Nadal is the opposite. It's boring for endurance athletes who still suffer under this heavy label. I agree with Thibaut Pinot," said the 26-year old Iserois.
It is possible to infiltrate tennis in France, but it is difficult to see how this debate could be enough to animate French sport.
