Speed climber Julian David exceeded his boldest hopes by not only setting two personal bests, but by making the men’s quarter-finals.
“It’s a phenomenal feeling,” he said. “Setting a PB was a goal, but making the quarter-finals is a real bonus.”
Perhaps it was preordained that Davis, 19, would do well at the Paris Olympics. After all, he was born in La Rochelle, France, moving to New Zealand with his family when he was three.
In the qualifying round, David had times of 5.24s and 7.33s, which placed him ninth of the 14 competitors.
Into the elimination heat, David had to take on experienced Iranian Reza Alipour Shenazandifard, a former world champion.
It was a daunting proposition, but after trailing early on (this is all relative; the whole event is over in under six seconds!), David rocketed up the final part of the wall and touched the pad, which turned green, signalling he’d won.
“It’s such an adrenalin rush when you hit the green; it’s incredible. And the crowd here makes it even more exciting. I thought, ‘Wow, I’m here with the big boys now.’”
David will line up in Thursday’s quarter-finals against another teenager, American Sam Watson, who broke his own world record during his elimination heat.