Luce Douady -- a climbing prodigy who was expected to compete in the Tokyo Olympics -- died Sunday after tragically falling from a cliff in France ... officials confirmed this week.
She was 16 years old.
According to the French Federation of Mountaineering and Climbing (FFME) ... Douady -- one of the most talented teenage climbers on the planet -- was with friends near Grenoble when tragedy struck.
The FFME says she was trying to navigate between two climbing sectors on a cliff ... but lost her footing. Multiple reports indicate she fell nearly 500 feet.