16-Year-Old Rock Climbing Champion Luce Douady Dies After Falling from Cliff

Tokyo Summer Olympics hopeful Luce Douady died Sunday after falling in a climbing area in the French Alps, the French Mountain Climbing Federation announced (h/t the Guardian).

The 16-year-old was the reigning world junior climbing champion and earned a bronze in the 2019 IFSC Climbing European Championships.

"Luce was a young athlete on the French climbing team, very promising," the FFME said. "Brilliant in competition."

French paper Le Dauphine (via the BBC) reported there is an investigation into Douady's death. The Guardian wrote she and some friends "were crossing a tricky path equipped with a handrail between two climbing areas" when she fell about 500 feet.

In August 2016, the International Olympic Committee approved sports climbing as a recognized competition, starting with the 2020 Summer Olympics. The COVID-19 pandemic forced organizers to delay the event until 2021.

Douady was poised to be one of the contenders in the bouldering discipline after earning gold in the 2019 World Youth Bouldering Championship and placing fifth in bouldering at the senior World Cup.