Thursday, September 19, 2024

Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE: sport climbing day 3, Men’s Lead & Women’s Speed Finals

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11:34
Tomoa Narasaki, the first Japanese to compete today, knows he has to climb a bit outside his comfort zone if he wants a place in the finals. His risk-taking style isn’t ideal for today’s route and he ends his Olympics earlier than expected. His score of 66.5 won’t be enough for the finals.

11:30
The route is merciless, takes no prisoners. Even Dohyun Lee falls victim, low down, with a score of 46.0.

11:25
The route continues to be unpredictable, nothing can be taken for granted, the athletes have shown us that it’s possibile to fall literally anywhere. Colin Duffy tackles the route head-on, guns blazing, leaving nothing to chance. Halfway up he fumbles a clip. He continues, then falls. 87.9 his final score. Will it be enough to secure a ticket for the final? There are still 5 to go…

11:20
Alex Megos must now redeem himself after his poor performance in Boulder. He has a mountain ahead of him. He climbs confidently through the first section but suddenly his foot slips! Incredible! Unfortunately his race for an Olympic medal ends here, with a disappointingly low score of 48.7.

11:14
Here’s an athlete we’ve all been waiting for, Adam Ondra, 3 times Lead World Champion, one  one boulder, bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. He’s gunning for gold. Banking on his incredible experience he seems to rest on every single hold, jams, takes weight off his hands. Completely soldi through the footless section, he’s confident but not complacent. Now he’s on the headwall, close to the highpoint set by Lopez, but then he fails to find the right body position and falls. Ondra being Ondra, he’s not fully satisfied with his performance. But he also knows he’s done enough to qualify for the final. He smiles and finishes the comp with 116.8 points, provisional first.

11:09
The crowd goes into overdrive, Sam Avezou is out next! And the 7000 spectators continue to cheer him throughout the test! He climbs quickly, but perhaps a little too quickly, taking many risks. Too many? His foot slips and he falls, in absolute disbelief! He waves goodbye to the crowd, almost apologetically, with 61.3 points

11:06
Yannick Flohé tackles the route in control, climbing quickly and without problems low down. All of a sudden though he’s in trouble. Completely. He falls and concludes his run with 68.7 points, too few for his Olympic dream!

11:02
Sascha Lehmann out now, in his favourite discipline. However, he’s not as cool and calm as usual, isn’t efficient and falls low. Surprisingly, he finishes the comp with just 36.1 total points. His Olympic adventure ends here.

10:56
The crowd erupts, cheers and chants to welcome Paul Jenft! The Frenchman climbs well, somehow finding excellent positions to rest in the overhanging section despite his unbelievable height of 1.90m. But too many risks on the traverse prove costly. He finishes the comp with 91.1 points though and is provisional second.

10:50
After an hour of competition, reigning Olympic Champion Alberto Ginés López, enters the stadium, wanting to redeem himself from a somewhat underpar boulder performance. He climbs far more relaxed than the rest of the field, perhaps feeding off his Tokyo experience. He’s quick where he needs to be, takes a few calulated risks though the overhang, and suddenly is far higher than everyone else. Way higher. The route setters must be relieved. Then he falls on the headwall. 100.7 points in total put him into provisional first in the overall results. It is too early to say, but we’ll hazard a guess: he’s probably done enough for the final.

10:45
The route is proving to be a extremely tough test for the athletes who have to fight pretty much right from the outset. Add to this the tension of being at the Olympics. But the top ten still need to climb. We can’t wait to see what they’ll get up to…

10:42
Jesse Grupper begins by greeting the crowds with a huge smile! He climbs through the first part with determination but without haste. Up on the volumes he’s suddenly in difficulty and falls low, way to low for his liking.

10:38
Hannes Van Duysen sets off like a rocket he doesn’t want to stay on the holds for a second longer than necessary. But halfway through the overhang he takes too much of a risk and falls. Way too low. He could have done much, much more.

10:34
Pan Yufei enters the arena. He climbs a bit slowly, isn’t as precise as usual, seems to struggle. The tension of the Olympic competition must be sky high. He falls and will no doubt be disappointed with his score of 30.1. Nevertheless he’s in provisional third behind MacArthur. And Sorato Anraku, who hasn’t climbed yet.

10:30
Luka Potocar is now out, ready to make up for a poor show in bouldering. Winner of the Lead World Cups, expectations are understandably high here. But he makes a few too many mistakes low down, he hesitates and falls low. He almost overly relaxed, definitely not his best showing today. 24 points.

10:24
Third athlete out is Hamish McArthur. The Brit seems slightly nervous but nevertheless climbs impressively. He controls the moves through the overhanging section leaving nothing to chance, but on the upper sections he wastes precious energy clipping a quickdraw. Despite this he goes full throttle and a few moves without feet he falls. 45.1 points. A great climb, probably not enough though.

10:17
Next up Campbell Harrison route in his favorite discipline. He’ll certainly want to redeem himself after Monday’s disappointing performance in Boulder. He climbs with determination and rhythm through the first section, comfortably through the traverse, but falls on the first volumes. What a great climb for the Australian who’s done so much for climbing in general! 14 points.

10:15
This Olympic semi-final begins with Mel Janse van Rensburg. He climbs through the first without hesitation, but as soon as he enters the steepest section the route changes gear and the South African tumbles. 7.1 his score.

10:07
Athletes are back in isolation. Mel Janse Van Rensburg will be the first out. The stadium is packed and ready to go!

10:01
The comp has officially begun. 20 athletes are below the wall observing the route. They’ve got 5 minutes to check out the beta and it’s great seeing that working out the moves together. Sportsmanship at its best. Better still, the Olympic spirit at its best!

9:55
After the sweltering heat on Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday is slightly cloudy. Temperatures should be lower, 17°C at the moment, but the action will be as blazingly hot!

9:50
Lead is about to begin. Just a quick reminder about the Olympic scoring system which is significantly differentl from World Cup events. There are four scoring sections on the wall, and the higher they climb the more points they are awarded. Scores are assigned to each hold in descending order, starting from the top: the 10 highest holds, including the top, are worth four points each, followed by 10 holds that are worth three points each, 10 that are worth two points each, and 10 that are worth one point each. Any remaining hold before the start of the route has no point value. There will be signage on the wall to tell you the sections. An additional 0.1 points is awarded for using, but not controlling a hold.

7:36
Wednesday 7 August, day 3 of sport climbing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Today the first, historic Speed ​medals will be awarded. Yes because while at the Tokyo Olympics only 1 medal per gender was awarded to the Combined discipline that comprised Speed, Boulder & Lead, here in Paris the number of medals has been increased to 2 per gender: one for the Speed and one for the Combined Boulder+Lead.

So today all eyes will be on Speed starting at 12:30, in particular on immortal Aleksandra Mirosław who two days ago set a new world record by stopping the clock after 6.06 seconds. But first up there’s the men’s Lead, on that beautiful wall on the left side of the arena. 100 points are on the table and will be added to those already earned in Boulder two days ago. The best 8 qualify for the final. Sorato Anraku currently sits firmly in first place with 69 points, ahead of Tomoa Narasaki with 54.4 points and Toby Roberts with 54.1 points.

Join planetmountain for the latest sport climbing news from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Our reporting will begin shortly before 10:00. The athletes competing today are:

MEN’S BOULDER & LEAD
Jakob Schubert (AUT) – 1. World Championships Bern 2023
Colin Duffy (USA) – 2. World Championships Bern 2023
Tomoa Narasaki (JPN) – 3. World Championships Bern 2023
Toby Roberts (GBR) – 1. European Qualifier Laval 2023
Jesse Grupper (USA) – 1. Pan American Games Santiago 2023
Sorato Anraku (JPN) – 1. Asian Qualifier Jakarta 2023
Campbell Harrison (AUS) – 1. Oceania Qualifier Melbourne 2023
Mel Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) – 1. African Qualifier Pretoria 2023
Dohyun Lee (KOR) – 1. Olympic Qualifier Series
Sam Avezou (FRA) – 2. Olympic Qualifier Series
Adam Ondra (CZE) – 3. Olympic Qualifier Series
Alberto Ginés López (ESP) – 4. Olympic Qualifier Series
Hannes Van Duysen (BEL) – 5. Olympic Qualifier Series
Paul Jenft (FRA) – 6. Olympic Qualifier Series
Yannick Flohé (GER) – 8. Olympic Qualifier Series
Hamish Mcarthur (GBR) – 9. Olympic Qualifier Series
Sascha Lehmann (SUI) – 10. Olympic Qualifier Series
Alexander Megos (GER) – 11. Olympic Qualifier Series
Luka Potocar (SLO) – 12. Olympic Qualifier Series
Pan Yufei (CHN) – 13. Olympic Qualifier Series

WOMEN’S SPEED
Desak Made Rita Kusuma Dewi (INA) – 1. World Championships Bern 2023
Emma Hunt (USA) – 2. World Championships Bern 2023
Aleksandra Miroslaw (POL) – 1. European Qualifier Rome 2023
Piper Kelly (USA) – 1. Pan American Games Santiago 2023
Lijuan Deng (CHN) – 1. Asian Qualifier Jakarta 2023
Sarah Tetzlaff (NZL) – 1. Oceania Qualifier Melbourne 2023
Aniya Holder (RSA) – African Qualifier Pretoria 2023
Yafei Zhou (CHN) – 1. Olympic Qualifier Series
Aleksandra Kalucka (POL) – 2. Olympic Qualifier Series
Rajiah Sallsabillah (INA) – 3. Olympic Qualifier Series
Capucine Viglione (FRA) – 7. Olympic Qualifier Series
Manon Lebon (FRA) – 10. Olympic Qualifier Series
Leslie Adriana Romero Pérez (ESP) – 12. Olympic Qualifier Series
Beatrice Colli (ITA) – 13. Olympic Qualifier Series

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