Our 12-strong Team Lëtzebuerg has athletes competing in athletics, cycling, swimming, equestrianism, table tennis, triathlon and archery. (fifth of twelve)
FYI: The so-called “cadre élite” comprises those athletes who have both participated in a certain number of high-level competitions and either achieved, or been close to achieving, the specific standard set to enter the “high performance” category of their sport (distinguished from “mass sport” or “recreational sport”).
The “cadre promotion” includes athletes who have not yet made the “elite” category but have a realistic chance of doing so within the first 6 years upon admission. This is not achieved by meeting specific criteria, but by their general performance as well as participation in high performance international competitions (within respective age categories and 5th and 6th years of performance).
SWIMMING
Julie Meynen is Luxembourg’s female swimming champion. After participating in 2016, she is making her second appearance at the Olympics in Tokyo. Her first competition – 100m freestyle/front crawl – will take place on the 28th of July, and her second – 50m – is on the 30th of July.
Meynen, 23, was overjoyed to find out about her qualifications for the Olympics, and spoke about fraught times awaiting the results: “I spent days just sitting here, waiting for the news,” she confessed, “I’m so happy knowing that I’m actually going. I’m going to try to enjoy myself and do my best. We’ll see how it goes from there. Of course I hope to make the semi-final, it’s always been a dream of mine, but right now enjoying myself comes first.”
When asked about her Rio performance, Meynen has said “I was younger, I was less experienced, I was very nervous. I only thought about my time, and I was kind of obsessed with it. This year I’m more relaxed about it.” After nearly achieving her ideal time, Meynen added: “I try not to worry about it now” as she focuses on the goals that are immediately in front of her.
Meynen represented Luxembourg at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships held in Gwangju, South Korea, where she competed in the women's 50m and 100m freestyle, and advanced to the semi-finals in the former.
