European Championships Antalya, eh? It’s all sunny and nice.
The delayed continental games and Olympic qualifier turned up the temperature
The archery calendar in an Olympic year is at risk of becoming a series of sideshows to the 'big dance' itself. Getting to the Olympics is now so important, so coveted, that it tends to consume all the energy of the archery world. This is hardly surprising, because Olympic qualification has long-term knock-on effects to national sides, budget, coaches, careers, and even the direction of archery in your nation over the next generation. It's understandable, but a shame when it begins to overshadow the European Championships, a competition with a long history stretching back to 1968.
In the familiar beach resort setting of Antalya, the delayed (from 2020) meet came with a similarly delayed Olympic qualification sidecar, with four places for men and four places for women available. These were, however, limited to nations who had not already qualified a place, and a maximum of one place per country per gender.
In the end, six countries ended up with the prize: France, Germany, Slovenia and Turkey qualified recurve men’s spots, while France, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey secured the recurve women’s quotas, shot over a thrilling set of last-eight matches.
The French men's place was taken by Rio 2016 silver medallist Jean-charles Valladont, who defeated Germany's Max Weckmueller to make the last four. It was a moment of validation for Valladont, who was not on form when the French men failed to qualify in Den Bosch, two long years ago at the last World Championships, and you get a sense that he saw this as long-unfinished business.
The French women's spot was won by Lisa Barbelin, who pushed out Denisa Barankova of Slovakia, but as two French women had made the last eight Barankova grabbed herself a ticket to Tokyo too.