“It’s a relief”, Ferdinand Ludwig and Laura Tarantola obtain their qualification in rowing

Ferdinand Ludwig and Laura Tarantola qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The boats of the two rowers from the Grenoble rowing club acquired their ticket for this summer on Tuesday during the qualifying regatta organized in Lucerne, Switzerland.

It was the meeting not to be missed, the last chance to hope to participate in the Paris Olympics. After the disappointment of the World Championships in Belgrade in September 2023, the rowers of the French team no longer had a choice during this qualifying regatta in Lucerne in Switzerland: finish in the first two crews.

Among the candidates, members of the Aviron Grenoblois club Laura Tarantola and Ferdinang Ludwig. Entered in a lightweight double scull, the Isère residents won their ticket for the next Olympic Games this Tuesday, May 21, in their boat.

Iséroise Laura Tarantola and her teammate Claire Bové left their opponents no chance. In the final of the lightweight double sculls, the rowers of the French team won their final of the Olympic qualifying regatta.

The French crossed the finish line 2 seconds and 53 hundredths ahead of their first competitors, the Greek crew. Laura Tarantola and Claire Bové will thus sail during the next Olympics.

“It’s really nice. It is a relief. Paris 2024, we hear about it every day. We will finally be able to say that we will be there“, exclaims Laura Tarantola.

In Tokyo, the French team won the silver medal behind the Italians. Laura Tarantola, who will celebrate her thirtieth birthday next June, hopes to take her boat to the top of the podium at home.

“In Paris, we are not going there to make up the numbers. We don’t know our level compared to others at all. […] But when you’re a competitor, you’re there to win“, confides the rower from the Isère club.

A first Olympiad for Ferdinand Ludwig

Another rower from the Aviron Grenoblois club at the start of the Lucerne regatta, Ferdinand Ludwig wanted to participate in his first Olympic Games. Alongside his rowing partner Hugo Beurey, the Voironnais qualified his boat for Paris.

The margin was smaller than for their female counterparts. But the lightweight double sculls pulled away in the final to beat the Greeks by 19 hundredths of a second, and the Germans by 2 seconds and hundredths.

“We are super happy to get this qualification. We had a bit of a complicated winter. Obviously, there was a bit of pressure on this event, so we are really happy to get through this stage. We still have some steps to take until July“, confides Ferdinand Ludwig at the microphone of the International World Rowing Federation.

Five rowers licensed in Grenoble will be on the starting line for the Paris Olympic Games. Ferdinand Ludwig and Laura Tarantola join the Turlan brothers, already qualified in the coxless four, and Emma Lunatti in the women’s double sculls.

These athletes will share the stage with another rower from the Alps: Benjamin Daviet. The ten-time Paralympic medalist in biathlon will taste his first summer Olympics. After a neck-and-neck fight with the Israeli and German boats, the Haut-Savoyard and his rowing partner Perle Bouge won the mixed double sculls in Lucerne.

“This is the first time I’ve gone through this regatta of death with this sword of Damocles hanging over my head. To win it is a great pride. It’s nice for Benjamin. I’m glad I did it for him too“, also rejoiced Perle Bouge at the microphone of World Rowing.

Benjamin Daviet will be able to count on the experience of Perle Bouge, a double medalist who already has four Olympics under her belt, to take her to the heights of the Vaires-sur-Marne nautical stadium, in front of their audience.