Teammates Forced to Become Rivals in Men’s Olympic Qualifier Series Final
Adam Ondra, Dohyun Lee, and others secured their Olympic tickets in the semi-finals. Not so for Team France, who had to battle it out in a heart-wrenching final.
Photo by: Lena Drapella/IFSC
Yesterday, the second of two Olympic Qualifier Series Boulder & Lead events came to a close in Budapest, Hungary. After Saturday’s semi-final round, Olympic qualifying spots were almost all figured out. The following athletes competing in the finals had already earned a spot based on their semi-final performance: 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 few climbers who didn’t make it into the finals also qualified based on their semi-final standings. These included Hamish McArthur of Great Britain, Sascha Lehman of Switzerland, Luka Potocar of Slovenia, and Yufei Pan of China.
This left the finals as a formality for most of the athletes. Where things got interesting, however, was with Team France. By the end of the Budapest semi-final round, three French climbers – Paul Jenft, Sam Avezou, and Mejdi Schalck – had accumulated more points than some of the athletes who had already qualified for the Olympics.
The qualification of the three French climbers was held up by the two-athletes-per-gender-per-country rule. Team France could only have a maximum of two men represent them at the Olympics and they had three athletes gunning for the spot. The two spots would have to be determined in the finals.
Jenft didn’t make it past the semi-finals, placing ninth. He had 70 points to his name across the Shanghai and Budapest events. Avezou would have to place at least fourth overall in Budapest to beat Jenft in points. Schalck would have to place at least third. Throughout the finals, Avezou and Schalck were essentially only competing against each other, hoping to outpoint one another or both beat Jenft. It was tough to watch – in earning their Olympic dream, they would be taking away the dream of one of their teammates and friends.
Eight climbers faced off in the men’s Boulder & Lead final. The Boulder round came first, and it was an extremely tough one. No climber topped more than one of the four problems. Sam Avezou, Hannes Van Duysen, Dohyun Lee, and Adam Ondra all topped one problem a piece. Avezou managed to reach the high zone on all four problems, putting him in first with 54.5 points heading into the Lead round. Van Duysen trailed in second with 50 points and Lee held the third sport with 44.5 points. Schalck scored two high zones and no tops, trailing nearly 25 points behind his temporary rival Avezou. You could see the frustration and desperation growing in the young athlete.
The Lead round was also a tough one, with no climber getting anywhere near to topping the route. Lee had the best showing, falling as he lunged for the 37th hold, earning 54.1 points. Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Alberto Ginés López did nearly as well as Lee, falling at the 36th hold. Avezou did third best, falling as he moved towards the 36th hold. Schalck fell after hold 31, leaving him in sixth in the round.
With Boulder and Lead points combined, Avezou earned gold with 105.6 points. This put him ahead of teammate Jenft and secured him his Olympic ticket. His sister Zelia also secured her Olympic spot earlier in the day in the women’s Boulder & Lead final. Lee earned silver with 98.6 points and Ondra won bronze with 92.4 points. Schalck placed sixth overall, leaving him behind Jenft in overall points. The promising French star does not get to compete in Paris but he undoubtedly has a bright future ahead in climbing.
“It’s super good winning this comp,” said Avezou after his first place victory. “The other guys were already qualified so you could see they were okay, they were chilling a bit. So, it’s not like full pressure for everybody but I am still super happy I managed to win this. And very promising for Paris. All of this is just training. Eventually I am starting to manage the pressure. I don’t know how it’s going to be in Paris. I am obviously not one of the favourites, so I hope less pressure and maybe just try to do my best without looking [at] what everybody is doing.”
Avezou also commented on what it was like to compete for an Olympic spot against his teammates. “I don’t have anything to say except, please three spots in Los Angeles [at the 2028 Olympic Games] for team France, please,” he said. “It was terrible doing this. You can’t deny the fact that [Schalck] was here and he was climbing next to me and it was the same for him. Probably, it was tough for him after the boulder round. He knew he was [behind in] points. So, it was probably super hard for him.”
Boulder Results
- 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 Results
- 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
Final Results
- 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 Qualified 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 learn more about the Olympic Qualifier Series – the format, the competitors, and the points system – read our in-depth explainer here. You can watch the Budapest OQS Men’s Boulder Final here and the Men’s Lead Final here.
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