Julian Harl and Alexander Horst booked their ticket to the Summer Games in Paris at an elite tournament in Astra.

Julian Harl and Alexander Horst won 21:19 and 21:15 against Argentinian brothers Capogrosso in the qualifying round of the Elite tournament in Ostrava (CZE). At the same time, their direct Olympic rivals Esteban and Marco Grimald (CHI) were eliminated after conceding a 19:21, 21:17 and 10:15 defeat to Dutch Warrenhorst/Looney.

Hörl/Horst can no longer be pushed out of the 18th place in the Olympic rankings, and regardless of their own performance in Ostrava, they will receive the right to compete in the Olympics from the World Volleyball Association.

Julian Harl: “For me, a childhood dream has come true! The last few weeks have been very tense, but we have found our rhythm again and proved that we are one of the best teams in the world with today’s victory!”

Alexander Horst: “Appearing for Austria at the Olympic Games for the fourth time makes me a little emotional. For the first time, my children can come with me, none of whom were born in 2008. I am very happy for Harley who put so much heart and soul into this qualification, he is not in any youth team, he worked hard for everything. And finally, of course, thanks to coaches Martin and Coetzee, who, despite my age, gave me the opportunity to win an Olympic place for Austria again with the national team! “

(paddle)