In Varese, the Monegasque rower was unable to secure his qualifying ticket for Tokyo. He has a slim chance left in Lucerne in May.
Competing in the European Olympic Qualification Regatta in Varese at the start of this week, Quentin Antognelli (26 years old) did not succeed in his quest for direct qualification for the Tokyo Olympic Games. The rower from the Principality gave it his all, but the competition was exceedingly tough in this event that awarded three places for Tokyo. During his entry into competition in heat 3 on Monday, the “red and white” athlete admitted, “I got off to a bad start in the race. I went off a bit too fast.”
He finished 5th (7:13.38). The Monegasque thus found himself in the repechage the same afternoon. He managed to lead the race. The final was close, and saw Slovak Zelinka (7:05.68) narrowly win over Quentin Antognelli (7:06.91). After two days of postponement due to bad weather (wind), the athlete from the Principality competed in the semi-final on Thursday. “I was in the race up to the first 1000m. I then became a bit disorganized, and the others accelerated.” Seeing that the race was decided, he eased off a bit. “Everyone had gone into overdrive.” He finished in 6th place (7:40.88).
“Not much to blame myself for”
During the last race, the B final, also on Thursday, Quentin Antognelli didn’t get off to a bad start. “I managed to pull myself together well. Four boats were side by side in the last meters.” The Monegasque finished 6th (7:13.81). Note that the three Olympic tickets were won by Stefanos Ntouskos (Greece), Alexander Vyazovkin (Russia), and Bendeguz Petervari-Molnar (Hungary).
At the time of taking stock, Quentin Antognelli admitted “being quite happy. I don’t have much to blame myself for. The level was really very high, it was very fast. I did experience some minor technical and physical problems, but I couldn’t have done better. I could have hoped to make it into final A and finish 6th at best, but being in the top three was mission impossible.” Therefore, no regrets for the “red and white” rower, who still has a slim chance of qualification in Lucerne (Switzerland) from May 15 to 17. The world regatta will award two tickets for Tokyo, in a competition “that will be even more complicated.”
Quentin Antognelli gave it his all, but the competition was truly very tough on the waters of Varese to finish in the top three and qualify for Tokyo.
