Bassa Mawem
Bassa Mawem sustained a serious injury in qualifying for the Olympic sport climbing premiere and has been out for months.
The rival of Austria's parade climber Jakob Schubert had shown great performance, especially in speed climbing, and mastered the 15-meter-high wall in just 5.45 seconds, thus setting the best time in the qualification. His younger brother Mickael Mawem then triumphed in bouldering and was the best. The French climbing brothers were on their way to the finals.
But then it happened. Bassa Mawem suffered a severe arm injury while leading and did not make it into the ranking. The 36-year-old later confirmed to French media that he had torn his biceps. The Frenchman was trying to pull himself up on the seventh handle with his left arm when the muscle tore.
Although Mawem had to give up so that he was only last in the lead, he made it to the final, although he cannot start there. Instead, the French face a month-long break, possibly up to six months.
Meanwhile, the injury-related failure poses a problem for the organizers. In the final of the top eight there are no plans to replace them, but duels should still be climbed. In any case, the organizers need a solution by Thursday.
