After frustrating Boulder qualification, Mejdi Schalck looks ahead
The French sport climber let his feelings be known while attempting the fourth problem during Boulder qualification at the Olympic Qualifier Series 2024 in Budapest – but the 20-year-old promises: "The energy will go higher".
Sport Climbing
A frustrated yell seemed to sum up Mejdi Schalck's day. Here he stood, the current World Championships silver medallist and world number six in Bouldering, and yet he couldn't figure out the fourth problem in the qualifying round of the Olympic Qualifier Series 2024 Budapest.
The young Frenchman carries the weight of his nation in sport climbing this summer. With a home Olympic Games coming up, Schalck is favoured to challenge for a medal at Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue this August.
And so the sight of one of the world's best Bouldering minds baffled by the tough puzzle created by the route-setters was an odd one on Thursday (20 June) in the sweltering heat of the Hungarian capital.
Speaking to Olympics.com afterwards, Schalck – who was completely stumped on the problem not even reaching the low zone hold and finished the Boulder qualifying round joint-fourth ahead of Friday's Lead qualifying – explained he just felt he had to get it all out.
"It was just quick," he said of his outburst of frustration on a problem that saw only one man from the entire field of 46 achieve a top hold. "Honestly I'm happy with my round, but I just had to express myself for one second because I just couldn't start the last boulder, but I think it's a very hard one.
"I'm feeling good and in good shape but I didn't wake up (feeling) strong – I think in the days to come, the energy will go higher. It's very hot and it's hard to stay really active and not get tired."
How about being the likely French hope in a home Games in August? "Obviously there is more pressure," the 20-year-old admitted. "But I don't have to care too much about the results - just do my thing and climb. The result should [follow]."
Late show pushes Olympic champ Ginés into third
The only man to successfully reach the top of that tricky fourth problem – one of two that stumped the field on Thursday, with no one doing better than the high zone hold on the second problem either – was the reigning Olympic champion, Spain's Alberto Ginés López.
Ginés had opened with a high zone on the first and low zone on the second of the four boulders, leaving him in danger of putting in an under-par performance. But the Spaniard, who finished second at last month's OQS Shanghai, recovered.
He told Olympics.com in Spanish: "I started off today quite badly with the smaller grips and my coordination, but I managed to stay a bit focused and not let it affect me.
"In the end I knew physicality was my strong point, so I tried to keep a cool head until that moment and it's worked out."
After the Boulder qualification round in the men's Boulder and Lead event, Ginés sits third on 64.5 points with Schalck joint-fourth on 59.8. Belgium's Hannes van Duysen (70.0) and Czechia's Adam Ondra (69.9) lead the way.
Nonaka Miho competing in the Women's Boulder & Lead - Boulder qualification at OQS 2024 Budapest.
Advantage Nonaka in Japanese tussle for single women's quota
The women had the better of the day, with no fewer than seven climbers achieving Tops on all four problems.
Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Nonaka Miho, who was fourth in Shanghai, looked at ease throughout, only needing more than one attempt to achieve top on two of the four boulders.
There is a mini-competition within the OQS for Nonaka and her teammate Ito Futaba, fifth in Shanghai and 10th after the Boulder qualification on Thursday. With Japan already having one quota spot through Mori Ai's Combined bronze medal at last year's World Championships, only one of Nonaka or Ito can obtain a quota spot in Budapest, even if both finish in the qualifying spots in the global OQS standings.
Advantage Nonaka? "I am confident I can grab this place," she said after her performance, which saw her top the standings on 99.8 points of a possible 100.
"It means a lot to me because I have put a lot of work into climbing and this is what I love. If I could go to Paris that means I am one of the strongest."
But the head-to-head with her good friend Ito is a different matter. "It's definitely hard, mostly mentally. It's no fun to always compete with someone who is so close to you. I just hope we can do our best on this stage and then we will both be happy.
"I can't say that I want her to be below me. I really want her to do her best, that's my honest opinion."
Italy's Camilla Moroni is 0.2 points behind, having taken two attempts to reach the top hold on each Boulder problem, while Shanghai winner Brooke Raboutou and her U.S. teammate Anastasia Sanders share third place on 99.5 points.
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective teams at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at Paris 2024 depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation. Click here to view the qualification system for each sport.
You can watch the Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) in Budapest from 20 to 23 May live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for mobile devices.