A title of champion of France among the U20s in difficulty for the South-Aveyronnais Mattéo Soulé

Le Sud-Aveyronnais fait partie des espoirs de la discipline. Yanak Lopez – Aurele Bremond

Originaire de Nant en Sud-Aveyron, Mattéo Soulé a décroché le titre de champion de France chez les U20 d’escalade de difficulté et tentera de se qualifier pour des manches de coupe du monde chez les seniors.

In the Soulé family, climbing runs in the veins. A generation of climbers learned their lessons with Pierre, the father, who quickly took his son Mattéo to the foot of the cliffs. The virus didn't take long to take hold and the youngest has just been crowned French U20 champion this weekend, in difficulty. &quot ;Before the competition, I was a little stressed, I knew there was a big category, he describes. J’ tried to manage the qualification as best as possible, I said to myself, "trust yourself" and I let myself climb, it was so good." After this first round, the South Aveyron native, originally from Nant, is tied for first.

"In the final without pressure"

Despite the high level, he showed that he was there to play for the title after climbing to second place last year. "J& rsquo;had confidence for the future but I was stressed because I had already failed in this type of competition." Once on the route, the climb took over. "I said to myself "forget the stakes and tell yourself that there is one year left to be champion of France among young people, have fun and enjoy it. I went into the final without any pressure and it was so good. I was focused on the route to have fun and it worked so well I have never felt so good climbing in competition."

Yet the route was not easy to find. "She was more in the style of the other climbers, mine was on the top." The atmosphere and flow of the day helped him get this title, the first for him among young people. "L’an last time my father was champion of France among veterans and I finished second, this year it's the opposite!"

A chance for the Olympic Games…2028

To see Mattéo Soulé in Paris, it's too late! In 2024, the Olympic Games climbing event combines difficulty and bouldering. Two very special disciplines. For the moment, the South Aveyron region expresses itself in only one of these specialties. "I do a bit of bouldering, but that& #39;is more complicated", admits the person concerned. For 2028, it could be that the combined will disappear and that the events will be separated, as is currently the speed. "So we will perhaps see for 2028", he concedes. Perhaps a chance for him to wear the tricolor tunic in Los Angeles.

11th among seniors

No reason to rest yet. This title in his pocket, he puts on the warm-up blue, this time among the seniors, for the international selection which takes place in Paris next weekend. Around ten climbers will be selected to participate in the World Cup rounds which will take place in France this year. The South Aveyron native has every chance, he finished 11th in the French senior championships which took place a week before. "I’was disappointed with my competition, it’was tough, and the young French guys made me smile again."  The opportunity to catch up and make the tricolor and South Aveyron colors shine on the international scene in the coming weeks.

An "ultimate cliff project" at  la Verrière

In the longer term, his youth title allows him to participate in a round of the European Cup in Austria in July and in the European Championships which will be there. rsquo;autumn. Before that, he might speak on the Natural Games climbing wall and also on the Verrière routes. An area that the young climber knows well and on which he has a more personal project: that of climbing “Black Wolf”, a route opened by Pierre, his father. He already completed "War of the Wolf", in the same area at 16 years old. A route rated 9a +. "I'm very far from it at the moment, I haven't had time to do a lot of cliffs this year. I would like to bring strong foreigners there to try, he explains. It’s the ultimate cliff project." With his head on his shoulders, the Nantes resident does not lack ambition and his young age (17 years) promises great things for him.