Paris Olympians Crowned European Climbing Champions

At the Boulder, Lead, and Combined European Championships in Villars, five Paris Olympians had podium finishes

Aaron Pardy September 4, 2024

Over the long weekend, the IFSC European Championships wrapped up in Villars, Switzerland. The nine-day event featured paraclimbing, speed climbing, bouldering, and lead climbing, as well as a boulder and lead combined competition. Paris Olympians Laura Rogora of Italy and Sam Avezou of France had standout performances throughout the event. Rogora earned gold in both Lead and Boulder & Lead Combined. Avezou won silver in Lead and golds in Boulder and Boulder & Lead Combined.

Because the event took place shortly after the Paris Olympics, many top European climbers chose to sit out the event, including Janja Garnbret, Jessica Pilz, Oriane Bertone, Erin McNeice, Jakob Schubert, Toby Roberts, Adam Ondra, Alberto Gines Lopez, and Alex Megos, among others.

Boulder Comp

In the women’s Boulder comp final, Naïlé Meignan and Agathe Calliet of France and Israel’s Ayala Kerem all topped three problems and reached four zones. They were separated by attempts to top with Meignan taking gold, Kerem silver, and Calliet bronze.

Tops were hard to come by in the men’s Boulder final, with no athlete achieving more than two tops. Avezou placed first, Great Britain’s Maximillian Milne took second, and Dayan Akhtar of Germany took third. Just like in the women’s comp, podium placements were separated by attempts to top.

Lead Comp

There was cleaner separation between athletes in the Lead competition. Paris Olympians Laura Rogora and Ukraine’s Ievgeniia Kazbekova earned the top two spots in the women’s final, reaching the 45 and 39+ holds respectively. Lynn van der Meer of the Netherlands took bronze, falling lunging for hold 39.

In the men’s comp, Paris Olympian and hometown favourite Sascha Lehmann won gold, nearly reaching hold 46. Avezou, coming off his bouldering victory, earned silver, and Spain’s Guillermo Peinado Franganillo earned bronze.

Boulder & Lead Combined Comp

Rogora followed up her Lead comp victory with another gold medal win in the Boulder & Lead Combined event. She placed fifth in the Boulder round, earning just 59.5 points. She killed it on the lead wall though, nearly topping the route and adding 96.1 to her points total, ending with 155.6 points overall. Just like in the Lead Championships, Kazbekova was not far behind, winning silver with 152.8 points. Zelia Avezou (Sam’s sister) rounded out the podium in third, with 151.8. Overall, it was an incredibly tight podium (155.6, 152.8, and 151.8) for the three Paris Olympians.

Just like Rogora, Sam Avezou followed up his Boulder comp win with a victory in the Boulder & Lead Combined event. Avezou absolutely crushed both the boulders and lead wall, ending up 47.6 points ahead of Lehmann, who took silver. Lehmann’s Swiss teammate Jonas Utelli won bronze.

Women’s Boulder Results

Naïlé Meignan (FRA) 3T4z 7 8
Ayala Kerem (ISR) 3T4z 9 10
Agathe Calliet (FRA) 3T4z 12 9
Ievgeniia Kazbekova (UKR) 1T4z 1 7
Chloe Caulier (BEL) 1T4z 5 15
Katja Debevec (SLO) 1T3z 2 4
Roxana Wienand (GER) 1T2z 6 7
Stasa Gejo (SRB) 0T4z 0 6

Men’s Boulder Results

Sam Avezou (FRA) 2T4z 2 7
Maximillian Milne (GBR) 2T4z 2 14
Dayan Akhtar (GER) 2T4z 7 17
Anze Peharc (SLO) 2T2z 5 3
Edvards Gruzitis (LAT) 1T4z 1 7
Manuel Cornu (FRA) 1T4z 1 9
Geva Levin (ISR) 0T3z 0 8
Oren Prihed (ISR) 0T3z 0 9

Women’s Lead Results

Laura Rogora (ITA) 45
Ievgeniia Kazbekova (UKR) 39+
Lynn van der Meer (NED) 38+
Sara Copar (SLO) 35+
Helene Janicot (FRA) 35
Mattea Potzi (AUT) 31+
Zelia Avezou (FRA) 30+
Lana Skusek (SLO) 25+

Men’s Lead Results

Sascha Lehmann (SUI) 45+
Sam Avezou (FRA) 43+
Guillermo Peinado Franganillo (ESP) 39+
Jonas Utelli (SUI) 37+
Laka Potocar (SLO) 37+
Filip Schenk (ITA) 37
Yuval Shemla (ISR) 26+
Sebastian Halenke (GER) 5

Women’s Boulder & Lead Combined Results

Laura Rogora (ITA) 155.6
Ievgeniia Kazbekova (UKR) 152.8
Zelia Avezou (FRA) 151.8
Sara Copar (SLO) 126.3
Ayala Kerem (ISR) 123.5
Lucija Tarkus (SLO) 99.0
Lucia Dorffel (GER) 86.0
Ingrid Kindlihagen (NOR) 64.8

Men’s Boulder & Lead Combined Results

Sam Avezou (FRA) 183.8
Sascha Lehmann (SUI) 136.2
Jonas Utelli (SUI) 133.3
Laka Potocar (SLO) 127.8
Guillermo Peinado Franganillo (ESP) 103.1
Nicolas Collin (BEL) 102.8
Nikolay Rusev (BUL) 88.6
Hannes Puman (SWE) 72.8