Quentin Rakotomalala (born 29 May 2003) is a French artistic swimmer. He was the first man to win a bronze medal in the solo free routine at a

LEN European Aquatics Championships The European Aquatics Championships is the continental Aquatics championship for Europe, which is organised by LEN—the governing body for aquatics in Europe. The Championships are currently held every two years (in even years); and since 2022, t ...

, winning the medal at the

2022 European Aquatics Championships The 2022 European Aquatics Championships took place in Rome, Italy, from 11 to 21 August 2022. The event exactly coincided with, but was not officially part of, the 2022 European Championships. This diverged from the joined format of the 2018 e ...

Background

Rakotomalala has expressed hopes that one day the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

will include men in solo and duet artistic swimming competition at the Games, specifying in 2022 his goal of competing at the

2028 Summer Olympics The 2028 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad, also known as Los Angeles 2028 or LA28) is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from July 14 to July 30, 2028, in and around Los Angeles, Cali ...

.Rupied, Emmanuel (13 August 2022)
"Championnats d'Europe de natation 2022 : Quentin Rakotomalala, pioneer de la natation artistique masculine française"
(in French). '' France Info''. Retrieved 21 August 2022. In December 2022, the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

announced men could compete in the team event in the sport at the

2024 Olympic Games ) , nations = TBA , athletes = 10,500 ''(quota limit)'' , events = 329 in 32 sports (48 disciplines) , opening = 26 July 2024 , closing = 11 August 2024 , opened_by = , stadium = Stade de France Jardins du Trocadéro and River Seine , summer ...

so long as the male competitors do not constitute more than 25% of the team event members, however, the Committee also continued the exclusion of men in solo and duet events, events Rakotomalala competes in."For the first time, men eligible to compete in Artistic Swimming at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024"
'' FINA''. 22 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.

Career

2020 Artistic Swimming World Series

Competing as a 16-year-old at the leg of the 2020 FINA Artistic Swimming World Series held in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, Rakotomalala and his partner Madeline Philippe won their first medal in the mixed duet technical routine, scoring 72.0468 points to win the silver medal behind gold medalists

Emma García Emma García García (born 13 January 1999) is a Spanish synchronised swimmer. She won a bronze medal in the free routine combination competition at the 2018 European Aquatics Championships The 2018 European Aquatics Championships took ...

and

Pau Ribes Pau Ribes Culla (born 1 September 1995) is a Spanish synchronised swimmer. He won a bronze medal in the mixed free routine competition at the 2018 European Aquatics Championships The 2018 European Aquatics Championships took place in Gla ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

."FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2020 - Leg 1: Results Mixed Duet Technical"
'' FINA''. 7 March 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2022. They won their second medal later in the day in the mixed duet free routine with a score of 75.3000 points, this time finishing 10.1333 points behind the Spaniards."FINA Artistic Swimming World Series 2020 - Leg 1: Results Mixed Duet Free"
'' FINA''. 7 March 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2022.

2022 European Aquatics Championships

The

, held in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, was the first edition of the

to offer solo male artistic swimming events, and as such Rakotomalala entered to compete in the second ever solo male event, the solo free routine, which took place after the solo technical routine in the Championships program, and was the first time the solo free routine was ever conducted."Natation artistique: le Français Rakotomalala décroche le bronze du solo libre"
(in French). ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...

''. 14 August 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2022. In the final of the solo free routine, held on 12 August at

Foro Italico Foro Italico is a sports complex in Rome, Italy, on the slopes of Monte Mario. It was built between 1928 and 1938 as the Foro Mussolini (literally Mussolini's Forum) under the design of Enrico Del Debbio and, later, Luigi Moretti. Inspired by t ...

, he scored a total of 78.0000 points, finishing 10.4667 points behind

Giorgio Minisini Giorgio Minisini (born 9 March 1996) is an Italian synchronised swimmer. He won two bronze medals in the inaugural mixed duet competition at the 2015 World Championships. He was world champion at the FINA World Aquatics Championships in the mix ...

of Italy, 5.3333 points behind

Fernando Díaz del Río Fernando Díaz del Río Soto (born 15 February 2003) is a Spanish artistic swimmer. He was the first man to win a silver medal in a solo male artistic swimming event at a LEN European Aquatics Championships, winning the first silver medal in the ...

of Spain, and 9.4667 points ahead of Ivan Martinović of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

to win the first ever bronze medal in the event.

LEN Len or LEN may refer to: People and fictional characters * Len (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Lén, a character from Irish mythology * Alex Len (born 1993), Ukrainian basketball player * Mr. Len, American hip hop DJ *Le ...

(14 August 2022)
"European Aquatics Championships Roma 2022: Results Men's Solo Free Final"
''Microplus''. Retrieved 21 August 2022.Lortholary, David (14 August 2022)
"Quentin Rakotomalala, one médaille pour l'histoire"
(in French). '' French Swimming Federation''. Retrieved 21 August 2022.Nony, Céline (14 August 2022)
"Quentin Rakotomalala, un Français parmi les pionniers de la natation artistique masculine"
(in French). ''

L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby football, rugby, motorsport, and cycle sport, ...

''. Retrieved 21 August 2022."Championnats d'Europe de natation 2022 : le sacre d'Analia Pigrée, la médaille historique de Quentin Rakotomalala... Le résumé de la quatrième journée"
(in French). '' France Info''. 14 August 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2022."Championnat d'Europe. Natation : Quentin Rakotomalala ajoute une médaille au clan français"
(in French). ''

Ouest-France ''Ouest-France'' ( ; French for "West-France") is a daily French newspaper known for its emphasis on both local and national news. The paper is produced in 47 different editions covering events in different French départments within the régio ...

''. 14 August 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2022. He executed his bronze medal-winning choreography to music by

Benjamin Clementine Benjamin Sainte-Clémentine (; born 7 December 1988) is a British composer, musician and actor. Born and raised in London, England, Clementine later moved to Paris, France, where he experienced homelessness for a time. After moving back to Lond ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

International championships

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rakotomala, Quentin 2003 births Living people French synchronized swimmers Male synchronized swimmers European Aquatics Championships medalists in synchronised swimming 21st-century French sportsmen Swimmers from Marseille French sportspeople of Malagasy descent