GB Climbing's young female athletes led the way at the European Youth Cup 2023

A brilliant team comprising eighteen athletes, many of them competing internationally for the first time, gave it their all over two days.

Consistency was the name of the game this time round. Nearly half of the team (eight athletes) made it through to finals in their respective categories, with at least one team member making finals in every category. Such a strong spread of results demonstrates the amazing array of talent currently on show in the Youth team.

But it was GB’s young women who especially starred, with Lucy Garlick and Louise Flockhart bringing home silver and bronze medals in their respective Youth A and Junior female categories. This is Lucy’s second medal as a youth athlete and only her first year competing in Youth A - she has already made her mark!

Louise’s bronze medal, in her final year of youth eligibility, was also her second career podium and marked a culmination of several years’ worth of hard work. Her first international competition in 2018 saw her come 29th, and she has steadily built her experience and skills to become a podium contender. Check out Louise’s reflection on the competition here.

Asked specifically about the finals in Graz, she had this to say: "During the final, I could tell a lot of girls were getting 4 tops, so I was proud to keep my head in check and take home a medal! Having such a strong and supportive GB contingent made it a great atmosphere to compete in.”

There were plenty of fantastic individual performances across the whole team, and it was clear how well they had implemented the learnings from their first round in Portugal in April. The next stop on the calendar for the strong youth is Duisburg, Germany from 8-11 June. Stay tuned for further updates on the junior team’s progress across the season.