Climbing: Janja stronger than ever, Wattson breaks the speed record

Japan's Miho Nonaka (R) competes in the women's sport climbing boulder semi final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. GETTY IMAGES

Anraku Sorato, NarasakiTomoa  and Toby Roberts finished at the top of the Boulder & Lead provisional ranking after the first phase of men’s semi-final at Paris 2024.

‘The Goat’ came back stronger than ever. Janja Garnbret have set distance in bouldering semi-final this Tuesday 6 August in Paris. The Slovenian climber was the only one to clear all four blocks and leads the way to the final, followed by local Oriane Bertone, USA’s Brooke Raboutou and Australia’s Oceania Mackenzie. Japan’s Ai Mori, other of the favourites, has a flat spot and will have to come from behind.

Janja Garnbret training for the Olympics to arrive stronger than ever. GETTY IMAGES
Janja Garnbret training for the Olympics to arrive stronger than ever. GETTY IMAGES

The Slovenian climber won with an almost perfect performance, achieving four tops in the four problems proposed by the setters. She only added a bit of drama in the last problem, which she solved on her third attempt.

Her main rival was France’s Oriane Bertone, who kept up until the last block, where she reached the top zone but not the top. Australia’s Oceania Mackenzie had a similar performance, marking the lower zone in the fourth block. American Brooke Raboutou missed the third block but managed to complete the fourth.

A step behind were two other favorites, the American Natalia Grossman and the Austrian Jessica Pilz, each with two tops and two high zones. Further back, and for the moment outside the eight places that secure a pass to the final, was the young Japanese climber Ai Mori. Initially a strong contender to challenge Janja Garnbret for the win, her two tops and the resounding zero in the first block will force her to try to make a comeback in Thursday’s difficult semi-final.

“I was a little bit nervous,” Garnbret told Eurosport at the end of the day. “Maybe a bit of a shaky start, but it ended great. The crowd here is absolutely phenomenal. I felt like I’m already in the finals because they were cheering so loud. The last one caused me a few problems. I don’t know why, I didn’t feel too comfortable, but I found my own way. You have to think outside the box, and you have to follow your intuition.”

Another record was broken by the USA’s Sam Watson, who surpassed his own Speed world record on his way to the quarter-finals of the sport climbing event at Paris 2024. Just moments after Indonesia’s Veddriq Leonardo matched the previous record of 4.79 seconds in the seeding round, 18-year-old Watson went 0.04 seconds quicker in the elimination heats, setting a new world record of 4.75 seconds. This incredible feat helped him reach the last eight. Leonardo was among the other climbers to safely progress to the quarter-finals, along with reigning world champion Matteo Zurloni of Italy.

This was Watson’s first Olympic experience, but at the IFSC World Cup Wujiang 2024, his best time of 4.79 seconds set a new standard for men’s speed climbing. On Sunday, May 5, 2024, the PanAm Games champion won the speed title at the World Cup event in Salt Lake City with a time of 4.89 seconds, just shy of setting yet another new record.

Sam Watson of Team United States celebrates after setting a new world record of 4.75 seconds during the Men's Speed, Qualification Seeding on day eleven of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue on August 06. GETTY IMAGES
Sam Watson of Team United States celebrates after setting a new world record of 4.75 seconds during the Men’s Speed, Qualification Seeding on day eleven of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue on August 06. GETTY IMAGES

That moment when you top the rankings after just two boulders on your Olympic debut. That’s the way things started on Monday 5 August in the first climbing competition of the week, with Men’s Boulder semi-finals. Anraku Sorato did just that, with the 17-year-old phenomenon from Japan laying down a huge marker in the semi-finals of the sport climbing men’s Boulder and Lead event at Paris 2024.

With four boulders to scale in total, world number one Anraku started with two top holds to take a commanding 14.6-point lead (69.0) overall going into Wednesday’s Lead semi-final.

Reigning Olympic champion Alberto Gines Lopez (28.7) has work to do, currently placing 14th, while Anraku’s compatriot Narasaki Tomoa (54.4) sits in second. Only the top eight athletes with the best combined totals will make Friday’s final, with legendary climber Adam Ondra (48.7), Team GB’s Toby Roberts (54.1), and French hope Sam Avezou (49.2) also impressing on Monday (August 5).

With varying degrees of difficulty, all four boulders presented significant challenges, and it took a while before anyone achieved a top hold. The first to do so was Austria’s bronze medallist from Tokyo 2020, Jakob Schubert, on the first boulder. However, the noise from that moment was nothing compared to the levels reached when home favorite Avezou scaled the fourth and final boulder shortly after.

Avezou, who won the Olympic Qualifier Series event in Budapest in June, roared in delight as he landed back on the mat, much to the delight of the crowd. Meanwhile, Czechia’s Ondra—chasing Olympic gold after missing out on the podium at Tokyo 2020—saved his best for last, finishing fifth overall after scoring 24.8 on the last boulder, as did Japan’s Narasaki.

However, this half of the semi-final belonged to Anraku. It was a masterclass from the rising star, who surpassed his opening 24.9 with a perfect 25.0 on the second boulder, drawing gasps from the crowd.

The gravity-defying climb involved a daring leap for the top hold, with the audience fully appreciating the move as he jumped up to first place. Just after Great Britain’s Roberts scored 24.7 on the final boulder to finish third, Anraku emerged to a huge cheer as the last climber to complete this stage of the event. Though he was unable to achieve a third top hold, heading into Wednesday’s lead semi-final, Anraku is primed to make the final and looks to be the climber to beat.

In Speed Climbing, Aleksandra Mirosław wowed the crowd with a stunning world record time of 6.06 seconds in the women’s Speed qualifying at Paris 2024, just moments after breaking her previous world record. The Polish sport climbing great, a two-time Speed world champion, reached the top in 6.21 seconds in her first climb, bettering the 6.24 she had set in September 2023, and went even quicker shortly after with a new record of 6.06 seconds.

Up against South Africa’s Aniya Holder in the seeding run, Mirosław was greeted with huge cheers at the Le Bourget Climbing Venue. Going up Lane B first, Mirosław scaled the wall in a staggering 6.21 seconds, celebrating on her way back down before taking a huge breath to take in the moment.

Not even 20 minutes later, this time in Lane A with an expectant crowd watching on, the 30-year-old dazzled again. Totally in the zone, Mirosław slapped the button at the top of the wall, projecting a time of 6.06 seconds across the venue. This prompted an even bigger celebration from her, her team, and those watching. It pushes the Pole within milliseconds of breaking the six-second barrier, which had been unthinkable just a few years ago.

While she may well have her sights set on breaking that barrier, the gold medal is firmly on her mind at these Olympics. In her bid for gold, Mirosław breezed through the elimination round that followed, going 6.10 seconds—just 0.04 seconds off her new record—to knock out Holder.

Competition system, new this year

There will be a combined block and difficulty, which will award the men’s and women’s medals, and which also changes its scoring system with respect to Tokyo 2021.There will be 20 participants in the men’s category, 20 in the women’s category. In the bouldering semi-finals, 4 blocks will have to be solved. Passing each of them gives 25 points, reaching zone 1 gives 5 points, and reaching zone 2, 10 points. Each attempt subtracts 0.1 points. In total, 100 points for whoever solves them all the first time. In the difficulty semi-finals, the participants will face a route. The last 40 holds are scored according to this scale:
From the 1st to the 10th point, 1 point per hold.
From the 11th to the 20th, 2 points for each pitch.
From the 21st to the 30th, 3 points per kill
From the 31st to the 40th, 4 points per catch.

In total, the top finisher will earn 100 points. The combined score will be calculated, and the top 8 men and 8 women will advance to the final, where the system will be repeated: 4 boulders and 1 lead climb will determine the medal winners.

In this format, speed climbing, a stronghold of specialists—it should be noted that the wall is always the same, with identical holds, allowing participants to train specifically to optimize their movements—will have its own medal. This benefits both combined participants, who will not be penalized for speed, and sprinters, who will not be penalized for bouldering and lead climbing.

In the qualifying round, 14 participants in both the women’s and men’s categories will have two attempts to set the best possible time. From there, the top 8 will compete in quarter-final and semi-final rounds, culminating in the two fastest climbers facing off in the final, while the 3rd and 4th place competitors will vie for the bronze medal.



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