Paris, 10 August 2024 (TDI): With a thrilling win in the boulder and lead event, Toby Roberts took home the 14th gold medal for Great Britain in Paris and their first Olympic medal in sport climbing.
When Japanese favorite and world silver medalist Sorato Anraku slipped during his ascent up the 15-meter wall to gift the Englishman the victory, the 19-year-old had his head in his hands, unable to believe he had won.
Toby Roberts finished third in the first round of the tournament, which was held over four boulders. Roberts honed his climbing skills on a makeshift wall constructed in his parents’ property.
With just Anraku to catch up, he eventually secured a provisional first place with a score of 92.1 out of 100.
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The 6,000-person crowd screamed when Anraku lost his grip after needing just 86 points on the lead wall to knock Roberts into silver.
Toby Roberts said, “There are no words to describe how amazing it was to discover that I had struck gold at that very time.”
In the summer and winter Olympics, Great Britain has won medals in 44 different sports, with climbing being the most recent addition. Roberts’ gold means climbing was first introduced at the most recent Tokyo Games.
The 17-year-old Japanese competitor Anraku won silver, and 33-year-old veteran Jakob Schubert, got bronze. Hamish McArthur of Britain came in fifth.
