France’s Sam Avezou wins Men’s Boulder & Lead as Jenft pips heartbroken Schalck
Avezou produced his best to win OQS Budapest and qualify for Paris 2024 while there were tears of joy and despair from his teammates
Sport Climbing
BUDAPEST – On a day in which calculators were in as much demand as climbing chalk, it was France’s Sam Avezou and Paul Jenft who emerged from the final of the men’s boulder and lead with smiles on their faces. Mejdi Schalck (pictured right) was the unfortunate third Frenchman who saw his hometown Olympic dreams disappear.
The trio began the final day of the Olympic Qualifier Series (OQS) in Budapest knowing that someone had to miss out, with only two Paris 2024 spots available for each nation.
The calculations were complicated by the fact that Jenft, fourth at OQS Shanghai, failed to qualify for the final. That left Avezou (eighth in Shanghai) and Schalck (10th in Shanghai) just about knowing what they needed to do.
Avezou took all doubt away by topping the boulder standings then producing a composed lead climb to win the competition with a score of 105.6.
The fact he grabbed his Paris place after he had succumbed to the pressure in Shanghai and fallen on the first hold in the lead final made it all the sweeter.
“I never reacted this well to pressure before,” Avezou said. “You could see (that) in Shanghai it wasn’t great. I am super happy I could manage eventually the pressure here and yeah, probably under pressure my best climbs ever.”
Jenft, sat on the sidelines, experienced different emotions.
“I just had to wait and stress and wait and stress,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep until 2am (Saturday night). It was horrible. I woke up at 6am (and thought) ‘When is the comp?’
“I made my calculations. I knew exactly what they had to do.”
Only after Schalck, who scored 29.7 in the boulder stage, dropped out of the top three in the competition standings following a 39.1-point lead climb, did Jenft know he was heading to Paris.
“It was really hard because for the first time I knew Mejdi was not going in the Olympics and it was a hard perspective because, for some point, it was my fault,” Jenft, who burst into tears in the crowd, said. “It’s really hard to make it not possible for your friend to go to Paris.”
The 20-year-old Schalck, who ended up one spot below Jenft in the overall OQS standings, was philosophical, if heartbroken.
“I gave everything and I have. No regrets on my mindset at all,” Schalck said. “It wasn’t the best climbing day of my life. I had not an amazing feeling and I wasn’t feeling so strong but I gave everything and I climbed well, generally.
“It’s a hard situation but it’s part of the game and yeah, it’s life.”
Elsewhere, the Republic of Korea’s Lee Dohyun, champion in Shanghai, shook off a shoulder strain to continue his fine form and grab second in Budapest. Adam Ondra, Czechia’s veteran superstar, took third, for the second time in five weeks.
The pair will be among the favourites in Paris, as will Alberto Gines Lopez. The Spaniard comfortably qualified for a shot at defending his Tokyo 2020 crown. A result that means his grandmother will be on the phone in the morning.
“My grandmother got a tattoo of the Olympic rings after Tokyo. She is 78 or something like that (and) she told me she is making an appointment to get another tattoo for Paris,” Gines Lopez said. “She is amazing.”
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