Toby Roberts clambers to Olympic gold in men’s boulder and lead sport climbing to bolster Team GB medal tally
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2024/09/16/image-70e52184-1d6b-4d9c-a172-9a13d4a3a1d9-68-310-310.jpeg)
Updated 09/08/2024 at 15:37 GMT+1
Sorato Anraku let an almost certain gold medal slip in the men's boulder and lead sport climbing, giving Toby Roberts a shock gold and Team GB's first Olympic medal in the sport. Anraku looked the class of the field from the moment he first touched the bouldering wall in the final, but Roberts delivered a nerveless performance in the lead section that Anraku couldn't match.
Watch as Roberts' golden display brings fans to their feet - 'There are screams in the crowd!'
Video credit: TNT Sports
Toby Roberts grabbed gold in the men’s boulder and lead competition at Paris 2024, securing Team GB’s first-ever Olympic climbing medal ahead of Sorato Anraku.
World No. 1 Anraku had been peerless in the bouldering, entering the lead competition a point ahead of surprise package Colin Duffy and leading Roberts by 6.2 – a solid margin on the 15m final wall.
With each hold reached on the final section of the climb worth four points, Roberts fell short of topping out the climb, leaving Anraku seemingly set for an ascent to glory – needing to get within two holds of the Brit’s high mark.
But the 17-year-old slipped when stretching up in the final metres of the climb to deliver gold to a disbelieving Roberts at the bottom of the wall.
It is Team GB’s 14th win of the Paris 2024 Olympics, putting them level with fourth-placed France in the medal table, but Australia in third are on 18 golds.
Hamish McArthur started as the best Brit in the final but faded from medal contention in the latter stages of the competition, finishing fifth on his Olympic debut.
Tokyo bronze medallist Jakob Schubert clambered above Duffy onto the podium at the last for Austria.
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2024/08/09/4023463-81606913-2560-1440.jpg)
'I don't think this is ever going to sink in,' says Roberts after glorious gold
Video credit: TNT Sports
Terminator Toby comes good against Spiderman Sorato
The last-placed qualifier for the final, McArthur set the standards in the early bouldering, and was second after the first two climbs behind only Anraku.
The teenager scored a perfect 25 on the first wall and was the only climber to top the second boulder too, before Duffy and Roberts pegged back his advantage in the second half as Anraku failed to complete either remaining climb.
With McArthur losing ground after his strong start, Roberts was the only man to complete the third boulder but saw his wings clipped at the end of the round as he was stuck on the low zone and ceded 5.2 and 6.2 points to Duffy and Anraku respectively.
That appeared to count him out of the race for gold against the impervious Anraku, as Roberts required a strong performance to even overhaul world champion Schubert for silver.
But Roberts has been the man to beat in the 2024 World Cup lead competition and thrived under the pressure, delivering an assured ascent to just two holds below the summit – guaranteeing a top-two finish that appeared set to be silver before Anraku’s last-gasp plummet.
- Bronze for Finucane in hectic keirin final, Marchant in agonising fourth
- Dominant Aldridge takes inaugural women's kite gold in sailing for Team GB
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2024/08/09/4023520-81608048-2560-1440.jpg)
Watch as GB's McArthur provokes huge crowd roar with daring move in climbing final
Video credit: TNT Sports
Roberts 'was happy with a silver'
Roberts, Anraku and Schubert played out the most dramatic of finishes in front of a capacity crowd, with sport climbing enjoying its first Olympics in front of spectators after making its debut in Tokyo.
The 19-year-old champion paid tribute to his sport’s rise after taking gold, but an amber celebration was foremost in his mind, before the women’s final on Saturday rounds out the climbing action at Paris 2024.
"To be honest, I have no words. I don’t think this is ever going to sink in – literally no words,” Roberts told Eurosport.
“I was happy with a silver and then to find out that I got gold, it was just an incredible moment. I was really nervous before my lead group so just coming out and being able to put a good performance in – I’m just so so happy.
"I imagine I won’t be sleeping [after the win], I’ll get very very drunk. I just hope it grows and grows, climbing is an incredible sport – the crowd here is just incredible."
discovery+ is the streaming home of the Olympic Games, and the only place you can watch every moment of Paris 2024 this summer
Related Topics
Advertisement
Advertisement