OQS: McNeice and Mcarthur Make Finals in Shanghai

Performance
18 May
3 min read

The third day of the Olympic Qualifying Series (OQS) featured the men’s and women’s Boulder & Lead semi-finals, selecting the top-eight athletes to compete in the final.

The rounds saw GB Climbing’s Erin McNeice and Hamish McArthur advancing to the finals in eighth and sixth. Despite the humid weather adding an extra layer of difficulty, both climbers rose to the occasion, setting the stage for an exciting final round tomorrow.

The women’s semi-final opened with a high-scoring Boulder round. Britain’s Erin McNeice took sixth position with 84.6 points after topping three out of the four problems, while Molly Thompson-Smith took 14th with 43.4 points and a top on Boulder two. Brooke Raboutou of the USA took P1 in the Boulder with a score of 99.8.

Moving into the Lead round, fatigue was evident among athletes across the board. McNeice came off the wall at hold 24+ with her head in her hands, clearly disappointed. However, her consistency and technique across the two rounds earned her eighth and a well-deserved spot in the finals with 104.7 points overall. Finishing in 13th with a score of 73.5, Molly Thompson-Smith’s efforts remain commendable. She plans to rest and prepare for the next leg of the OQS, which will take place in Budapest next month.

Molly Thompson-Smith competes in the semi-final Boulder phase. Photo: IFSC

In the men’s competition, Hamish McArthur continued to hold his place near the top of the leaderboard. Qualifying for the semi-finals in third place, he began his semi-final campaign with a flash on boulder one, found the zone on problem two, and topped problem three in two attempts. After reaching the lower zone on problem four, McArthur finished the Boulder round in fourth. Completing the Lead round, the 22-year-old slipped down to sixth place overall after coming off the wall at hold 34+, finishing on a combined score of 109.7. McArthur joins Tokyo 2020 gold medallist, Alberto Gines Lopez in the final eight.

Click here to view the full results.

The Boulder & Lead finals will be the closing event of the Olympic Qualifier Series Shanghai 2024 tomorrow, with the men’s final starting at 2:30 am UK time and the women’s final starting at 8:25 am UK time.

The Olympic Qualifier Series is composed of two parts: the first one in Shanghai from 16 to 19 May, and the second one in Budapest, Hungary, from 20 to 23 June. Every competition round at the OQS will be streamed live on Olympics.com.

Erin McNeice takes to the Boulder wall. Photo: IFSC

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