“I’m not going to lie to you, I think about it all the time or at least very, very regularly.” Victoire Andrier says it with a smile, summing up the state of mind of French climbers before they take part in the two Olympic qualification tournaments in Shanghai (May 16-19) and Budapest (June 20-23). Oriane Bertone and Bassa Mawem already have their ticket in their pocket, there are fourteen of them participating in these two TQOs.
loading
Get places for Paris 2024
Many of them are based at Pôle France in Voiron, where they spare no effort, such as Mejdi Schalck, the world vice-champion in bouldering. “Since the start of the year, I’ve focused my training only on that, so I’ve had moments of dips, more difficult moments. I had to accept these moments, overcome them and now I feel ready.“
And it would be better to be because the number of places for the Olympics is very limited, 15 to 20 athletes depending on the disciplines where there are regularly more than 60 in the World Cup. Places are expensive, and the considerable pressure admits Capucine Viglione, holder of the French speed climbing record. “There is mental preparation, there are more difficult competitions to tackle. There is a time, with this goal of Paris 2024 that we have all been waiting for years.“
“It’s a dream year”
Victoire Andrier is also preparing to deal with this stress and also wants to draw motivation from it, “I know it’s here, it’s happening and it’s cool. It’s a dream year, it’s full of emotions and so it’s positive.“As the host country of the Olympic Games, France is guaranteed to have at least one athlete selected in each event (speed and combined), therefore two men and two women, but the French climbers dream of bringing eight, their maximum contingent.
