After making its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games three years ago, sport climbing returned to Paris with a new two-event format. The sport was divided into a bouldering/lead combined event and a separate speed climbing event.
Rather than rewarding the most well-rounded, consistent climbers, the separation of speed from bouldering/lead increased the medal opportunities available for climbers who specialize in certain disciplines. This is generally seen as an improvement from Tokyo because the speed discipline requires a different skillset than that in boulder and lead.
The thrill of the separated disciplines opened the door for double the amount of athletes to make history and break world records on sport climbing’s largest stage.
Medal Table
| Country | Gold- Silver- Bronze |
Total |
|---|---|---|
| Poland | 1 – 0 – 1 | 2 |
| Great Britain | 1 – 0 – 0 | 1 |
| Indonesia | 1 – 0 – 0 | 1 |
| Slovenia | 1 – 0 – 0 | 1 |
| China | 0 – 2 – 0 | 2 |
| United States of America | 0 – 1 – 1 | 2 |
| Japan | 0 – 1 – 0 | 1 |
| Austria | 0 – 0 – 2 | 2 |
Men’s bouldering and lead combined
In a shocking twist, Sorato Anraku, the heavy favorite to win Olympic gold in men’s bouldering and lead combined, took silver. The 17-year-old Japanese climber led the field throughout the semifinal round and final boulder round, but uncharacteristically fell in the early part of the highest 10 holds on the final lead route.
Instead, it was Great Britain’s Toby Roberts who became the Olympic champion. He was one of only three climbers who topped at least two boulders in the first round of the final. This gave him a large advantage heading into the lead portion, where he earned 92.1 points, one of the highest lead climbing scores. He won with a total score of 155.2 points — 9.8 points higher than Anraku.
Lead specialist Jakob Schubert of Austria had a mediocre boulder score of 43.6 but made up for it with a near-perfect lead score of 96 points for a combined total of 139.6 points.
American Colin Duffy was in medal contention for most of the competition but was bumped from bronze medal position after Anraku started his ascent up the lead wall.
Men’s bouldering/lead combined medalists
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.