GB Sport Climbing

[Rafa Maciel 1,658]

The 2024 Sport Climbing season kicks off in earnest tomorrow with the IFSC Boulder World Cup meet taking place in Keqiao  and there are plenty of Brits in action on the boulders.

 

Men:

Toby Roberts - interesting to see if he's been able to hold (or ideally improve) his form over the off season.

Max Milne - (Qualified for OQS)

Jack MacDougall - (Qualified for OQS)

Dayan Akhtar

 

Women:

Molly Thompson-Smith - (Qualified for the OQS) Was injured last year and didn't do huge amount of boulder work so will be good to see her do well here. 

Erin McNeice - (Qualified for the OQS)

 

[Rafa Maciel 1,658]

Great qualifying result for McNeice as she managed 4 tops/5 zones to safely makes it through to the semi-final in 4th place.

 

It wasn't such a good day Thompson-Smith as finished down in 41st with just 1 top/4 zones and exits the competition.

[Rafa Maciel 1,658]

Men's qualifying in Keqiao cancelled due to the weather and all of the men will be advanced to the final.

 

Before the weather set in, Toby Roberts was in a great position having completed 4 of the 5 obstacles - all in a flash effort. I'm not sure whether that is a sign of great form or whether the routes were not as difficult as they could have been (3 other athletes had completed all 4 obstacles in flash efforts and there were flashes recorded for multiple climbers.

 

Max Milne had completed 2 boulders - both in flash attempts.

 

Jack Macdougal completed the first boulder and managed to top in 6 efforts.

 

Dayan Akhtar didn't have a chance to get his competition started. 

[Rafa Maciel 1,658]

Great start to the season for Erin McNeice as she qualifies for her first IFSC World Cup Boulder final. 

[Rafa Maciel 1,658]

Toby Roberts qualifies for the final in Keqiao in second place with 4 tops and 5 zones.  Max Milne (2 top/5 zone) and Dayan Akhtar (3 top/5 zone) also made it through to the extended final. 

[RussB 189]

3 hours ago, Rafa Maciel said:

Toby Roberts qualifies for the final in Keqiao in second place with 4 tops and 5 zones.  Max Milne (2 top/5 zone) and Dayan Akhtar (3 top/5 zone) also made it through to the extended final. 

This is a new sport to me, I had been aware of Max Milne, but Toby Roberts seems to really have progressed lately on the world stage. What are the expectations around the British squad for Paris, and specificlly for Toby?

[Rafa Maciel 1,658]

Just now, RussB said:

This is a new sport to me, I had been aware of Max Milne, but Toby Roberts seems to really have progressed lately on the world stage. What are the expectations around the British squad for Paris, and specificlly for Toby?

There's high hopes for Roberts after the huge progress he made last year - he's world number 2 in combined boulder/lead so it would be surprising if there wasn't talk of a podium for him. It will be tough though with the strength and depth of the Japanese and the Korean teams amongst others. If Roberts can keep it close in the boulder stage, then he will have a great chance when it comes to lead.

 

Prior to last year, Roberts was regarded more as a lead specialist but he has put in a huge amount of work in on his boulder technique and he is becoming a lot more consistent in his result. 

 

As for the rest of the GB squad, there's a lot of new names coming into the squad and we've got quite a few qualified for the OQS. It's not out of the question that we could end up with another couple of athletes qualified for Paris. 

[Rafa Maciel 1,658]

Roberts finishes in 4th place with 2 tops and 1 zone. He ultimately misses out on the bronze medal because he took more attempts than  Van Duysen. Although he misses the podium at this comp, if those scores were to be replicated at the Olympics, going into the lead section Roberts would be really well placed for a medal.

 

Max Milne ultimately finished in 9th with 1 top/3 zones and Dayan Akhtar was in 19th with 1 zone. 

[Rafa Maciel 1,658]

Next stop of the team is in Salt Lake City  this weekend with a double header of Speed and Boulder world Cup competitions.

 

Good to see GB representation in the speed events with Matthew Fall competing. He competed at the European Olympic qualifier last year and finished 22nd. He didn't compete much last year and is yet to break into the top-20 in a competition.

 

Paris bound Toby Roberts heads up the team for the Boulder competition. He will be joined by Dayan Akhtar. Roberts will be aiming to improve on his 4th place finish at Keqiao  last month. James Pope and Max Milne were originally registered to compete, but it looks like they have withdrawn - probably to focus on their prep for the OQS which kicks off in Shanghai the following week.

 

On the women's side, two new names in the frame - Lucy Garlick and Eugenie Lee. 17 year-old Garlick recently won a European Youth Cup event, but this will be just her 2nd Boulder World Cup event. Can't find any previous results for Lee. 

 

Like Pope and Milne, Erin McNiece and Molly Thompson-Smith have chosen not to compete in Salt Lake City as they continue their preparations for the OQS.

[Rafa Maciel 1,658]

Toby Roberts misses out on the final of the Boulder World Cup in Salt Lake City as he finishes in 7th place. Frustrating result for him - he had the same result as 6th place  Sohta Amagasa - 2 Top / 3 Zones - he but took more attempts so ultimately missed out on the final.