When he touched the ground after his semi-final run, still roped, Mejdi Schalck looked lost. «Mejdi, you are in finale», repeats the speaker. ” What ? Really ? “, answers the 16-year-old Frenchman. Her childish face with blond curls lit up, shyly waving to the crowd. For his first senior competition, the first World Cup, the climber, still younger, does not realize: he is in the final in Briançon, perhaps the only stage of the year.
“I’m outclassed, it’s crazy, I don’t have the words …, he smiles. This is the first senior international competition I can do. I had no objective, just to see what it looks like when climbing like I know how to do. “ In Briançon, he represented this talented, carefree and promising young French team.
Four French people slipped into the final: Fanny Gibert (27), surprising but brilliant third on Saturday night, Nao Monchois (21) and Nina Arthaud (20), second in the semi-finals and seventh in the final. Behind, they are several to have narrowly missed the top 8 in the semi-finals, such as Hugo Parmentier (9th, 21 years old) and Paul Jenft (10th, 17 years old), Camille Pouget (11th, 17 years old) and Julia Chanourdie (12th , 24 years).
A review «Positive» for the tricolor clan, which arrived in Haute-Savoie with an average age of 20 years. “ It got younger all of a sudden, testifies Fanny Gibert, third world block. I have the impression that in a few years, I went from the youngest to the oldest. “There are plenty of young French people who arrive strong … I have trained for so many years and they are already at my level”, smiles Slovenian Domen Skofic, winner here in 2016 and second on Saturday night.
Nina Arthaud, finalist last year as this year in Briançon. (Christophe Angot / FFME)
Let us remember all the same that the Americans or Asians, accustomed to the international podiums, were not able to fly to Haute-Savoie. But the European armada was there, with in particular the winner of Saturday, untouchable in qualifying as in the final, the Czech Adam Ondra (triple world champion of difficulty), or the Slovenian Janja Garnbret (three world titles in 2019), second Saturday behind the Italian nugget Laura Rogora, second woman in the world to have signed a 9b, in cliff. “It’s true that it looks a bit like a European Cup, relativizes Nina Arthaud. Afterwards, in terms of the atmosphere, as usual, we are united and we are doing. “
“Young people are taking over. It’s nice to be able to help them a little. “
Romain Desgranges, winner of the World Cup in 2017
Health instructions, such as wearing a mask (but excluding climbing) or more restricted access to the warm-up wall, did not really disturb them. Performing for several years among young people, the Blues have climbed without complex. “The course is sometimes hard to pass, the physical commitment and the technical requirement are very different, explains Cécile Avezou, coach of the difficulty with the Blues. There, we see that they want to be competitive right away. “
They can now count on the attentive eye of Romain Desgranges (37), 18 international seasons to his credit, new retiree and member of the staff. Concentrated, the winner of the 2017 World Cup shouted his voice during the runs, then distilled advice and reassuring words. A passing of the baton? “It’s really a journalist thing, he laughs. Of course, young people are taking over. It’s nice to be able to help them a little. “
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