French men’s gymnastics team miss out on Paris Olympics berth
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France's Benjamin Osberger in action on the rings during the men's qualifying competition on Oct 1.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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ANTWERP – The French men’s gymnastics team on Sunday missed out on a berth at the 2024 Paris Olympics, after finishing 19th in qualifying at the world championships in Antwerp.
France had to finish in the top 12 in the world to qualify and at the same time ensure a quota of five individual places for their home Olympics.
But they finished far from the objective set after a disappointing competition.
Benjamin Osberger, Lucas Desanges, Jim Zona, Kevin Carvalho and Leo Saladino started with the rings and finished with the pommel horse, with little room for error.
“We knew we had to achieve something almost perfect to qualify,” said Zona.
“We are not up to the task, we have to accept it,” added Osberger.
“There’s not much to say. We’re missing out, especially on the last apparatus. It didn’t work today. We’ll have to bounce back.”
After a decent start, they made a series of errors on the parallel bars before collectively collapsing on the pommel horse.
However, they have a chance to secure three individual Olympic quota spots during the World Cup stages or the European Championships next spring, but qualification by this route promises to be very complicated.
“We’re not in the best shape but obviously, we are going to play all the cards that remain to us,” said French team coach Kevinn Rabaud.
At the end of qualifications, the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey, the Netherlands and Ukraine sealed their Olympic team tickets and joined China, Britain and Japan who had already qualified.
World championships debutant Kenta Chiba put Japan on track to winning their first team title for eight years with an impressive performance on Saturday.
Kenta Chiba put Japan on track to winning their first team title for eight years with an impressive performance on Saturday.
PHOTO: REUTERS
With 258.228 points, Japan led the field after qualifying sessions in Antwerp, keeping the United States (254.628) at bay. Britain are third on 254.193.
Chiba, 27, posted 85.799 points, the top score in the second of six qualifying sessions, with Kazuma Kaya second with 85.598.
Daiki Hashimoto, the reigning world and Olympic all-around champion, was below par and finished third overall and just third among his Japanese squad with a score of 85.432.
With just two gymnasts from each country allowed to go forward to the all-around final, Hashimoto benefited from the rules that allow a country to swop a competitor of their choice and he will take part in the final at the expense of the unfortunate Kaya.
The Americans, blending experienced campaigners like Tokyo Olympian Yul Moldauer and rookies like Paul Juda, snuck past the British squad. AFP
