Sunday in Bucharest, five French climbers obtained their ticket to Paris.
At the end of the Olympic Qualifiers Series (OQS) on Sunday in Budapest, five young French climbers validated their ticket to Paris, including the talented Paul Jenft and Sam Allez who will be able to claim a medal this summer in combined bouldering and difficulty.
In front of a dense crowd gathered on the Ludovika campus in the Hungarian capital, Sam Allez, 23, won the competition, notably dominating the Czech Adam Ondra (3rd) and the Spaniard Alberto Ginés López (5th), reigning Olympic champion .
“I did not expect that. Most of the other guys were already qualified so they took it a bit easy I think. But great!” rejoiced Allezou, a climbing licensee in Massy (Essonne).
The twist of fate for Paul Jenft
At the end of the suspense, the Chamberian Paul Jenft, eliminated in the semi-final on Saturday, also won his place at the Games thanks to the lackluster performance of the young Mejdi Schalck (6th), who had to finish on the podium to qualify.
“When I found out, there was a part of relief, but also a lot of sadness because I knew that I had just released Mejdi, I deprived him of that a little and it’s hard,” regretted Jenft , engineering student in Grenoble.
France could only obtain a maximum of two quotas per gender in Paris. “All three of us pulled ourselves up a lot and (Mejdi) deserves it as much as I do, but it’s sport (…) I’m going to leave more motivated than ever,” added Jenft.
Three French women in Paris
Earlier, the young Zélia Allezou, Sam’s little sister, had also obtained her ticket in combined, while in speed, Capucine Viglione and Manon Lebon had qualified on Saturday.
This promising young armada will be completed in Paris by Reunionese Oriane Bertone in combined and veteran Bassa Mawem in speed, qualified in 2023, bringing the number of quotas obtained by the French camp to seven, out of eight possible places.
The Olympic climbing events will take place from August 5 to 10 at Le Bourget. In Tokyo for its first Olympic appearance, the sport combined its three flagship disciplines, speed, bouldering and difficulty in a single event.
