Interview. Jessica Pilz, 27, settles her Olympic debt. She overcomes the disappointment from Tokyo and wins a medal in Paris. With this, Austria’s climbing sport has gained a second Olympic medal after Jakob Schubert’s bronze.
One day after Jakob Schubert, Jessica Pilz also won bronze in sport climbing at the Olympic Games in Paris. The 27-year-old from Lower Austria achieved a strong performance in lead climbing on Saturday in Le Bourget after finishing sixth in bouldering, making it into the medal ranks. The gold went to Slovenia’s top favorite Janja Garnbret, who won gold three years ago in Tokyo, while silver went to the American Brooke Raboutou.
Pilz managed to reach two of the four tops in bouldering, placing herself well in the combined event of bouldering and lead with 59.3 points. In lead, the vice-world champion scored 88.1 points, finishing second and accumulating a total of 147.4 points to secure a medal position.
How does the bronze medal feel? You showed a lot of emotion.
Jessica Pilz: It feels incredible. There was a lot of pressure, and I was afraid of disappointment. I knew I had to give my all and perform fully to make the podium. I was aware that fourth place was also a possibility. So, it was a huge relief that it worked out.
What were those split seconds like when you fell from the wall and realized you won a medal?
When I fell, I already knew that I had done really well and had scored many points. But of course, you don’t know exactly how far the others got. I just wanted to check how it looked and I looked at the coaches. Then I just wanted to hug someone. That was my first reaction, running to familiar faces.
Did it make a difference for you to climb second to last, knowing you had to surpass almost everyone to get the medal?
There is a bit more pressure when you climb last rather than at the beginning. I would have preferred to qualify as fifth or sixth instead of second – there’s a lot to lose. But it worked out well this way.
How often did you think about Tokyo this week (Olympic seventh after a chance for bronze, note)?
Actually, not at all. But after bouldering, I saw that the scores were really close, with three ahead of me but none being lead specialists. I was most worried about Ai Mori (seventh after bouldering, fourth in final ranking). I then found out she took the lead. At that point, I relieved some pressure by telling myself I just had to show my performance. I simply didn’t think about the fact that this was the Olympics. That I just had to try to deliver.
Did Jakob Schubert’s bronze give you peace of mind, relieve the pressure?
No, that didn’t affect my performance.
Did you think about the possibility of Janja Garnbret making a mistake after you and that she could still get silver?
I already knew she wouldn’t be eliminated. I was quite indifferent about whether it would be silver or bronze. I was just happy to have a medal at all.
You have been a world champion, is Olympic bronze bigger?
Yes, definitely. The whole year revolves around this event. You skip World Cups. You make sure that all your preparation fits this one event. You don’t do that for any World Cup or World Championship. Even media-wise, it’s a huge difference. I believe all of Austria was watching. You can’t compare that.
(TB/APA)