Victor Crouin was in the car with his father and referee Mike Riley when news broke about the Olympic Qualification System for LA2028.
En route to the Yale-Harvard match, having exited the Tournament of Champions in the quarter-finals, the French no.1 was "super excited" when, like the rest of the squash world, he downloaded the document outlining the qualifying criteria for squash's long-awaited debut in the Olympic Games.
Whilst the contents of the document certainly took some digesting, once they were fully understood, they changed the focus, mindset and diaries of Crouin and every other squash player with aspirations of reaching Los Angeles.
The document immediately thrust the five Continental Games (Asian, African, European, Pan American and Pacific) into centre stage as the first and most direct route into the Olympic draw.
Provided they remain in the world's top 50, the 10 gold medallists (five men, five women) at these Games can book their tickets. They will be Olympians.
"The European Games are already on my calendar and they will be the main goal now," Crouin told Squash Player. "I think it's a good thing that more weight has been placed on these Games. Exciting is definitely the word!
"There are a lot of complexities in the criteria. It looks simple, then the more you dig into it, the more questions arise.
"But the coaches, federations and journalists can dig into the complexities. For me, I'm keeping it simple for my own mental health: the European Games are the most important thing.
"When I'm back from the US, I'll have a meeting with my staff and pinpoint the events I will play and how we are going to operate until June 2027 so I can peak at the European Games."
The European Games will take place in Istanbul and will double up as next season's European Individual Championships (EIC), a title that Crouin has won for the last three years. If he were to retain the trophy at this year's EIC in Budapest in August, he would technically go to Turkey as defending champion.
Crouin has another psychological advantage ahead of next summer's European Games: he is a two-time winner in another huge multi-sport event, the World Games.
The 26-year-old beat Balazs Farkas in the gold medal match in Chengdu last August, banking vital experience that will prepare him for the enormity of the Olympics.
"I was the flag-bearer in Chengdu which was an incredible experience," he reflected. "That was the day before I played, so I was a bit stressed about losing too much energy during the opening ceremony, but it was a real boost. It's a real advantage getting that multi-sport event experience.
"Being part of a bigger French team and with athletes from other disciplines, and achieving success in that environment twice, I think that will be a real advantage."
If the European Games were played today, Crouin would be second seed behind Joel Makin, with Marwan and Mohamed ElShorbagy, Jonah Bryant and Dimitri Steinmann also in the mix. Lots can change in the ensuing 16 months, of course.
"For me, the biggest question now is about the draw size for the European Games and how many players will each national federation be able to select?" says Crouin.
"Each team could be selected by the national federation [rather than by ranking], so it's going to be controversial at some point. Some players will be left behind and won't even have the chance to qualify.
"Your career may depend on one decision rather than your results, but it's the same for all Olympic sports."
All players who fail to win their respective Continental Games will then rely on the other qualification methods, principally their world ranking. Crouin already has a plan to maximise his chances.
"I've already started cutting down on leagues and exhibition matches and focusing on PSA tournaments, so that I can have bigger training blocks with that Olympic goal in mind.
"I'm just about in the top eight now, so for me it's really important to improve faster than my rivals in order to get into that top four once we hit the cut-off date [22 May 2028]."
One of the oddities of the Olympic Qualification System announced last Sunday by the IOC and World Squash is the two (possibly three) spaces available for 'second-ranked players' from one nation in each draw.
This opens the possibility that if a second-ranked player (or even lower) in their particular nation wins a Continental Games, it will leave his or her higher-ranked compatriot(s) in a perilous position.
For Crouin, if for example fellow Frenchman Baptiste Masotti won the European Games, Crouin would need Masotti to keep his ranking above that of the second-ranked player from the two next highest nations (e.g. Egypt and Great Britain). In this instance, Crouin's Olympic fate would be entirely in his team-mate's hands.
Chuckling at this theoretical scenario, Crouin says: "I wasn't really considering the threat of my French team-mates!"
He added: "Obviously it would be great to have two French players at the Olympics. To do that, we need a second Frenchman in front of a second Egyptian or British player, because they are the two best nations currently. That's going to be a hard task."
For now, the Harvard alumnus is focusing on maintaining his ranking, which has now become more important than ever before.
"For me, it's about winning the Continental Games then in the longer term, getting closer to the top four to qualify via my ranking if I don't win [in Istanbul].
"It feels like two and a half years is a long time, but it's not really. The great thing is that now we can set some real goals to optimise our chance to qualify."
