At the end of a testing tournament in Antalya (Turkey), Jean-Charles Valladont obtained the Holy Grail: a third Olympic qualification. The silver medalist of the last Rio Games is therefore one of the two archers of the French archery team (with Lisa Barbelin), who have already qualified for Tokyo.
Never two without three they say. Jean-Charles Valladont is now witness to it. The Franc-Comtois qualified for his third Olympiad on the lands of Antalya in Turkey. On the occasion of this Olympic qualifying tournament, four tickets for Tokyo were available for men, and four others for women, but within the limit of one ticket per nation. At 32, the native of Besançon therefore showed that he still had some under the pedal. The key to qualification was played from the quarter-finals of the tournament. Indeed, after winning his first two matches, Jean-Charles Valladont was opposed to the German Maximilian Weckmueller, a formidable opponent. The Frenchman finally emerged victorious from this duel at the top (7 to 3), notably offering himself a perfect volley to conclude the meeting (26-24; 27-27; 28-25; 25-28; 30-28) . This spectacular victory, however, did not allow the Bisontin to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Indeed, his teammate, Thomas Chirault, also qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament. Due to the Olympic quotas available for this tournament, the ticket for Tokyo was going to be decided between the two partners. The result finally tipped in favor of the Franc-Comtois. “Psychologically I was impacted, but my experience allowed me to remain calm in the semi-finals. I finally won my semi-final, and Thomas lost his. I knew then that I was going to win the Olympic quota. Eight years ago, I would have trembled a lot more,” said Jean-Charles Valladont.
After participating in the Beijing Olympics in 2008, then in the Rio Games in 2016 (silver medalist), the Bisontin has given himself the means to experience his third Olympics in Tokyo. The latter will of course want to shine in singles but also wants to be aligned on the team table. “There is still a long way to go to the Olympics, but today was only a step. In 15 days in Paris will take place the world cup with a TQO by teams this time! Our France team must therefore earn its place for the Olympics,” explains the 32-year-old archer. A new big meeting to come therefore for the Bisontin, who is still far from having lived everything in his career. The best is, perhaps, yet to come.
