class=”sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc”>
It was the clear goal of Jérémy Desplanches (29) to reach the Olympic limit last week at the World Championships in Doha. One minute, 57 seconds, 94 hundredths. This is the magic moment to beat for the games. “If I were to qualify, the coming months would be much more relaxed,” the medley specialist from Geneva told Blick a few days before the World Cup.
But nothing comes of it. Despite setting the best time in the preliminary round, Desplanches missed the limit by 23 hundredths. In the semi-final of the 200 meter individual medley, the disappointment was even greater. Desplanches narrowly missed the final in his strongest discipline. The man from Geneva is devastated, and in the post-race interview with RTS he keeps it short: “I don’t know why, but I was bad. It is difficult.”
There remains hope
It’s surprising that he would be so devastated by this defeat. Desplanches recently said that qualifying for the Olympics is more of an option and not an obligation. After all, last year both Long Covid and mononucleosis affected him. Then the thought of quitting swimming altogether.
But Desplanches wants to try again. He has two chances to qualify for the Olympics. The Swiss long track championships will take place at the beginning of April. According to Markus Buck, head of competitive sports at Swiss Aquatics, these competitions could come a little too early. “In endurance sports you can maintain your top level for about five weeks – then it drops again. Now it takes a few weeks to rebuild the performance.”
That is why the focus is already on the European Championships in mid-June, almost a month before Paris. The Olympic bronze winner could use the stronger competition there to his advantage, Buck explains: “If you have top athletes next to you, they can really push you and pull you along.” We can only hope that Jérémy Desplanches will make it clear at the latest for the last time that he will participate in the Olympic Games.
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
