Tokyo (AFP)
The French Bassa Mawem, who crossed the climbing qualifications at the Tokyo Olympics alongside his brother Mickaël, will not participate in the final on Thursday due to a serious injury to his left arm.
A specialist in vertical sprinting, the 36-year-old climber suffers "from a total rupture of the lower tendon of the biceps" and will be repatriated to France "for surgery," said the French Mountain and Climbing Federation.
For the first appearance of climbing at the Games, with a combined three specialties, Bassa Mawem had ideally started his tournament by winning the speed test with a new personal best.
He then suffered in the bouldering event (18th out of 20 candidates) and, above all, had prematurely fallen in the difficulty one (20th) because of a "sharp pain in the left arm", explained the federation.
The calculation method, designed to reward high performance in one area rather than average scores everywhere, had nevertheless allowed him to slip among the eight finalists, in 7th place.
"Although qualified, his state of health will not allow him to participate in the final" Thursday, which will award the first Olympic climbing title in history, said the federation.
The qualifications were dominated by his little brother Mickaël, 31 years old since Tuesday: very solid in speed (3rd), he was sparkling in bouldering (1st), composting his ticket for the final even before the difficulty (11th).
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