The Belgian climber finished second in the lead event and became the sixth Belgian in history to win a medal at a European Championship.
The European Climbing Championships took place in Laval, France. Having qualified for the final of the lead climbing event, Héloïse Doumont delivered the best performance of her career. Only Britain's Erin McNeice managed to outperform her, becoming the sole climber to reach the top of the wall, which stood more than 16 metres high.
In this discipline, which is closely related to outdoor rock climbing, athletes are given a collective observation period to analyse the route before attempting it. They are then isolated so they cannot watch their competitors climb ahead of them. Each climber is allowed only one attempt to ascend the competition route as high as possible within a maximum time limit of six minutes.
The 28-year-old Belgian, ranked 15th in the world, had previously finished 11th at the 2024 European Championships in Villars and 14th at last year's World Championships in Seoul. She now brings Belgium its first women's medal since Anak Verhoeven's European title in 2017. Muriel Sarkany had also been crowned European champion in 1998, likewise in the lead event. Chloé Caulier won silver in bouldering in 2020, while Kim Anthoni claimed bronze in speed climbing in 1996.
A wonderful achievement for this Belgian athlete, who has often been forced to put her career on hold because of injuries!
