Paris 2024: Men’s Boulder Semifinal
The Men's Boulder Semifinal at Paris 2024 got underway today on the walls of Le Bourget, with four fresh boulders ready to be tackled. Today marked a moment for the history books as Great Britain’s Hamish McArthur and Toby Roberts made their Olympic debuts. They are the first men to represent Great Britain in Sport Climbing at the Olympic Games.
With a roaring crowd behind him, Hamish McArthur was the first climber to put points on the board, making a mark in the Paris 2024 Sport Climbing competition. His first attempt was a strong showing, navigating through the initial section and securing 5 points in the low zone. He moved faster on his second attempt, efficiently reaching the sloper and finishing Boulder One with a score of 9.9 points, leaving the mats with one minute to spare.
Boulder Two tested the British climber further. McArthur approached the problem with maturity, securing 10 points on the higher zone. Although he touched the top hold, he could not control the movement to stick the top. Despite this, McArthur's efforts added to his overall score, bringing him to 19.9 points and maintaining his lead on the scoreboard.
McArthur's tactical approach continued with Boulder three, where he swiftly moved to the crimp and stuck the lache, adding another 10 points to his score. He concluded the round with a solid score of 34.2 points after taking 5 points on boulder 4, placing him 8th overall. The top eight climbers will proceed to the finals after the Lead round.
Starting the competition second to last, we saw Toby Roberts fight hard for the top on problem one, not managing to get his right hand onto the hold he was not awarded the 25 points so took 9.8 points on the opening boulder after securing the high zone.
Boulder two saw Roberts take the high zone which added a further 9.7 points to his score.
Entering Boulder three with 19.5 points on the scoreboard, Roberts launched into the lower zone, earning 5 points on his first attempt. He went on to score 9.9 points, the highest score on the problem, which is a significant effort for the 19-year-old on a boulder that is not his preferred style of climbing.
With just one problem to go, Roberts was already sat in 13th place. Finishing his round on a high, Roberts successfully secured the top on the slab problem unlocking the beta with four attempts. The points secured from gaining the top rocketed him up the leaderboard into third place finishing off his Boulder semifinals with 54.1 points, comfortably ahead of Sam Avezou of France who took 49.2 points.
Roberts finishes the Boulder round behind Japan’s Sorato Anraku and Tomos Naraski who took first and second with 69 and 54.4 points.
Day two of the Sport Climbing competition will see the women’s Boulder semifinal get underway, with Molly Thompson-Smith and Erin McNeice pulling onto the wall. You can watch on Discovery+ or BBC from 9:00am GMT and follow the results on the BMC and GB Climbing social media channels.
Coaches Corner with Michelle Forrest
"Michelle Forrest is a GB Climbing Coach, with over 10 of years of international competition coaching experience. She has played a pivotal role in developing the next generation of climbers in Great Britain through her role as GB Junior Coach. In 2023, Michelle was selected as part of the UK Sport Coaching in High-Performance Sport development programme.
It was a tough set for the men’s boulder semifinal, with only seven tops in the entire round. Sotato Anraku (Japan) leads the event with 69 points, having topped 2 of the 4 boulders. Both Hamish and Toby delivered solid performances, scoring 34.2 and 54.1, and placing 8th and 3rd, respectively, with minimal point margins separating the field. With some big lead names just outside the top 8, it is all to play for as they head into the lead semifinals on Wednesday.
Watch out for IFSC (International Federation of Sport Climbing) Lead World Cup winner from Chamonix, Colin Duffy (USA), IFSC Lead World Cup runner-up in Innsbruck, Alex Megos (Germany), and reigning Olympic Champion Alberto Gines Lopez (Spain), who will all be pushing to make the overall top 8 and the finals on Friday."
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