Yesterday, the second of two Olympic Qualifier Collection Boulder & Lead occasions got here to an in depth in Budapest, Hungary. After Saturday’s semi-final spherical, Olympic qualifying spots had been nearly all discovered. The next athletes competing within the finals had already earned a spot primarily based on their semi-final efficiency: Dohyun Lee of South Korea, Adam Ondra of Czechia, Hannes Van Duysen of Belgium, Alberto Ginés López of Spain, and Alex Megos and Yannick Flohé of Germany. A couple of climbers who didn’t make it into the finals additionally certified primarily based on their semi-final standings. These included Hamish McArthur of Nice Britain, Sascha Lehman of Switzerland, Luka Potocar of Slovenia, and Yufei Pan of China.
This left the finals as a formality for a lot of the athletes. The place issues acquired attention-grabbing, nevertheless, was with Workforce France. By the top of the Budapest semi-final spherical, three French climbers – Paul Jenft, Sam Avezou, and Mejdi Schalck – had amassed extra factors than a number of the athletes who had already certified for the Olympics.
The qualification of the three French climbers was held up by the two-athletes-per-gender-per-country rule. Workforce France might solely have a most of two males characterize them on the Olympics and so they had three athletes gunning for the spot. The 2 spots must be decided within the finals.
Jenft didn’t make it previous the semi-finals, inserting ninth. He had 70 factors to his identify throughout the Shanghai and Budapest occasions. Avezou must place at the least fourth total in Budapest to beat Jenft in factors. Schalck must place at the least third. All through the finals, Avezou and Schalck had been basically solely competing towards one another, hoping to outpoint each other or each beat Jenft. It was robust to observe – in incomes their Olympic dream, they’d be taking away the dream of considered one of their teammates and associates.
Eight climbers confronted off within the males’s Boulder & Lead closing. The Boulder spherical got here first, and it was an especially robust one. No climber topped greater than one of many 4 issues. Sam Avezou, Hannes Van Duysen, Dohyun Lee, and Adam Ondra all topped one drawback a bit. Avezou managed to succeed in the excessive zone on all 4 issues, placing him in first with 54.5 factors heading into the Lead spherical. Van Duysen trailed in second with 50 factors and Lee held the third sport with 44.5 factors. Schalck scored two excessive zones and no tops, trailing almost 25 factors behind his short-term rival Avezou. You possibly can see the frustration and desperation rising within the younger athlete.
The Lead spherical was additionally a tricky one, with no climber getting wherever close to to topping the route. Lee had the most effective exhibiting, falling as he lunged for the thirty seventh maintain, incomes 54.1 factors. Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Alberto Ginés López did almost in addition to Lee, falling on the thirty sixth maintain. Avezou did third greatest, falling as he moved in direction of the thirty sixth maintain. Schalck fell after maintain 31, leaving him in sixth within the spherical.
With Boulder and Lead factors mixed, Avezou earned gold with 105.6 factors. This put him forward of teammate Jenft and secured him his Olympic ticket. His sister Zelia additionally secured her Olympic spot earlier within the day within the ladies’s Boulder & Lead closing. Lee earned silver with 98.6 factors and Ondra gained bronze with 92.4 factors. Schalck positioned sixth total, leaving him behind Jenft in total factors. The promising French star doesn’t get to compete in Paris however he undoubtedly has a vivid future forward in climbing.
“It’s tremendous good profitable this comp,” stated Avezou after his first place victory. “The opposite guys had been already certified so you could possibly see they had been okay, they had been chilling a bit. So, it’s not like full strain for everyone however I’m nonetheless tremendous glad I managed to win this. And really promising for Paris. All of that is simply coaching. Finally I’m beginning to handle the strain. I don’t know the way it’s going to be in Paris. I’m clearly not one of many favourites, so I hope much less strain and perhaps simply attempt to do my greatest with out trying [at] what all people is doing.”
Avezou additionally commented on what it was wish to compete for an Olympic spot towards his teammates. “I don’t have something to say besides, please three spots in Los Angeles [at the 2028 Olympic Games] for staff France, please,” he stated. “It was horrible doing this. You possibly can’t deny the truth that [Schalck] was right here and he was climbing subsequent to me and it was the identical for him. Most likely, it was robust for him after the boulder spherical. He knew he was [behind in] factors. So, it was in all probability tremendous exhausting for him.”
Boulder Outcomes
- Sam Avezou [FRA] (T1 HZ4 LZ4 1 9 7)
- Hannes Van Duysen [BEL] (T1 HZ3 LZ4 1 3 4)
- Dohyun Lee [KOR] (T1 HZ2 LZ4 2 3 9)
- Adam Ondra [CZE] (T1 HZ3 LZ3 2 10 6)
- Mejdi Schalck [FRA] (T0 HZ2 LZ4 0 3 6)
- Alberto Ginés López [ESP] (T0 HZ2 LZ4 0 3 8)
- Alex Megos [GER] (T0 HZ1 LZ4 0 1 5)
- Yannick Flohé [GER] (T0 HZ1 LZ4 0 2 9)
Lead Outcomes
- Dohyun Lee [KOR] 36+
- Alberto Ginés López [ESP] 36
- Sam Avezou [FRA] 35+
- Adam Ondra [CZE] 34+
- Alex Megos [GER] 32+
- Mejdi Schalck [FRA] 31+
- Hannes Van Duysen [BEL] 30+
- Yannick Flohé [GER] 27
Closing Outcomes
- Sam Avezou [FRA] 105.6
- Dohyun Lee [KOR] 98.6
- Adam Ondra [CZE] 92.4
- Hannes Van Duysen [BEL] 86.1
- Alberto Ginés López [ESP] 83.6
- Mejdi Schalck [FRA] 68.8
- Alex Megos [GER] 67
- Yannick Flohé [GER] 52.4
OQS Olympic Certified Athletes
- Alberto GINES LOPEZ (ESP)
- LEE Dohyun (KOR)
- Hannes VAN DUSYEN (BEL)
- Adam ONDRA (CZE)
- Hamish MCARTHUR (GBR)
- Sascha LEHMANN (SUI)
- Luka POTOCAR (SLO)
- PAN Yufei (CHN)
- Yannick FLOHE (GER)
- Alexander MEGOS (GER)
- Paul JENFT (FRA)
- Sam AVEZOU (FRA)
To study extra concerning the Olympic Qualifier Collection – the format, the rivals, and the factors system – learn our in-depth explainer right here. You possibly can watch the Budapest OQS Males’s Boulder Closing right here and the Males’s Lead Closing right here.
