Rome (AFP)

Vincent Milou and Aurélien Giraud have validated their Olympic qualification for Tokyo, where France will be represented by five skaters for the entry of sport to the Olympics, at the end of the semi-finals of the 2021 World Skateboard Street Championships, Saturday in Rome.

Giraud and Milou will make the trip to Japan alongside Charlotte Hym, for the street, and Vincent Matheron and Madeleine Larcheron, for the park.

Street is one of the two now Olympic disciplines consisting of performing very technical figures in a park where modules represent street furniture.

For the other discipline, the park (or bowl), you have to perform aerial figures in a deep bowl with relief.

"France will therefore be present at the Games in all events. We are quite proud," said the national coach, Florent Balesta, to AFP.

Twenty places in men's street and twenty in women's street, as well as twenty places in men's park and twenty in women's park are available for the Olympics (23 July-8 August).

They are allocated according to the world ranking, including a maximum quota of 3 skaters per nation in each category, with also quotas per continent.

The Blues have therefore managed to place themselves in each category as Rome hosts the very last competition before the Games.

These Worlds in Italy only concern the street and there will be no French in the final on Sunday.

The best ranking is that of Snowy, 2019 European champion playing in the World Top 10, who ranked 9th in the semi-finals;

only the first eight go to the final.

The biggest disappointment is that of the best Frenchman, Giraud (6th in the world), who failed Thursday during qualifying.

It ranks 41st.

"I have qualified for the Olympics, I realize how lucky I am. I will try to improve and understand why I did not succeed this time around and find the solutions so that I can win at the next competition, the Games Olympic, "he told AFP.

Lawrence Ravail is 23rd and Joseph Garbaccio, 24th.

Hym is 19th.

On Saturday, the best skater was by far the star of the discipline, the American Nyjah Huston, ahead of the Japanese Yuto Horigome and the Brazilian Kelvin Hoefler.

Sunday will take place the finals for women and men.

The medalists will take a one-way trip to Tokyo.

© 2021 AFP