In an incredible, nail-biting, performance Toby Roberts fought to the bitter end to claim the Gold medal against a team of seasoned competitors from South Korea and Japan at the IFSC Boulder World Cup in Brixen, Italy.
The women’s field kicked off the weekend where GB Climbing athletes Holly Toothill, Zoe Peetermans and Molly Thompson-Smith put in sterling efforts on the qualification boulders. Holly delivered another consistent result of 31st position, whereas Molly and Zoe had a tough time on the blocs to finish in the lower half of the field at 57th and 67th , respectively.
Over in the men’s qualification round, Joe Xiberras had a brilliant debut to finish in the upper half of the field in 37th place. Meanwhile, after some impressive performances, Jack MacDougall, Hamish McArthur, Max Milne and Toby Roberts all found themselves moving on to the next round to put in the largest GB Climbing appearance for the men’s field in an IFSC Boulder World Cup semi-final since 2006.
After a brilliant semi-final showdown, Jack recorded his best result ever and placed 17th in only his third Boulder World Cup appearance, which is simply amazing. Max claimed 11th place, Hamish also came away with his best result yet in 10th, and Toby Roberts would be coming back to fight in the final round and what’s more, he was entering the final in 1st!
The excitement from the GB Climbing team was evident as they cheered on Toby throughout the final. But it all came down to the last boulder for an incredibly tense finale. It was all or nothing – if Toby failed to reach the top he’d miss out on a medal altogether. But if he topped, he would come away with Gold.
Speaking to the IFSC, Toby said: “Because we see the scores in the back I knew I had to top. I was just trying to stay calm and look at the boulder as just a boulder and not think about anything else, but it’s pretty hard when you are in that environment.”
With a roaring crowd psyching him up and urging him on to the top, Toby claimed his first Boulder World Cup gold medal, and the first GB Men’s gold in Boulder since Andy Earl back in 2007.
“The crowd was incredible and part of the reason I got up it,” said Toby. “Words can’t explain it, I feel absolutely incredible. The fight on that last boulder, I have no words, I had to give it absolutely everything. I left it all on the boulder and I can’t quite believe I won my first World Cup. It’s so surreal.”
Incredible performance Toby, we’re so excited for you and can’t wait to see what comes next.
RESULTS: Brixen, Italy IFSC Boulder World Cup
Men
1st: Toby Roberts
Women
31st: Holly Toothill
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