Roberts medal at Edinburgh ends 28-year GB men's hiatus
- Wednesday 14th September 2022
After some super strong performances all summer, and in front of an ecstatic home crowd, Toby Roberts took the bronze medal in the Edinburgh Lead World Cup last weekend!
Still climbing in his first ever senior international year, 17-year-old Toby Roberts finally ended a 28-year hiatus for British men in World Cup Lead competitions. Remarkably, it was on 29th April 1994 when a British climber last won a WC Lead medal with Ian Vickers standing on the podium in Moscow to be presented with a bronze medal. In the early 90s, French climbers had a virtual stranglehold on the WC medals; climbers such as Francois Legrand, Francois Petit, Arnaud Petit, Francois Lombard and Jibe Tribout often shared the honours. Vicker’s was one of the few climbers to punch through what seemed to be an almost impenetrably cordon.
That Ian Vicker’s 1994 Moscow success was, sadly, the last time any British male climber medalled at a WC Lead event will not be lost on the young Toby Roberts. Will Bosi came painfully close in 2019; twice he finished in fourth place – in both Briancon and Chamonix - but despite all his efforts he has not yet made it into the top three. Since then, and having only just transitioned into the senior events himself, Hamish McArthur has been posting solid performances in international Lead events. Although McArthur took the bronze medal in the 2021 Lead World Championships his best results in World Cup Lead comps thus far have been 7th and 8th place finishes in Chamonix and Briancon respectively this year.
Given the early success that the Brits had in Lead competitions – Simon Nadin won the WC Championship in its inaugural year in 1989 – the 28-year hiatus since Vicker’s medal can only really be considered one of the most painful periods for British Men. Toby Roberts, in ending that long drought, has become only the fifth ever Brit to collect a World Cup Lead medal for his efforts. Roberts joins an exalted cohort of British men standing, metaphorically, alongside Jerry Moffatt, Simon Nadin, Ben Moon and Ian Vickers!
Whilst we make no apology for leading on Toby Robert’s amazing result at Edinburgh we should also report the rest of the results perhaps?! Amazingly, the Edinburgh event only happened following some last-minute negotiations after the cancellation of the scheduled event in Wujiang, China. The Edinburgh International Climbing Arena (EICA) however is no stranger to hosting international events having hosted the European Lead and Speed Championships in 2019 and a World Cup event in 2017.
Women's Event
In the women’s event, all eyes were focused on Janja Garnbret and Ai Mori. Many wanted to see if Garnbret could return to the top of the podium having been expelled by Mori in the recent competition held at Koper. For her part, Mori was out to prove that her Koper finish wasn’t a one-off result.
Mori and Garnbret, along with four other climbers – Natalia Grossman, Laura Rogora, Chaehyun Seo and Natsuki Tanii started strongly topping both qualification routes. Mori and Seo were the only climbers to top the semi-final route so the medals looked up in the air still. Garnbret, climbing third from last, put in a strong performance on the final route climbing reasonably quickly throughout and positively through what seemed like the high crux of the route. Topping out, Garnbret was clearly delighted with her performance. However, Garnbret’s medal depended on Mori and Seo who were climbing next.
Mori looked a little unsettled as she climbed and looked to be climbing too slowly to threaten Garnbret. However, the higher Mori climbed the faster she seemed to go; remarkably she topped out as the final seconds of her allotted six minutes ran out! Seo climbed with her usual flow but then started to struggle with the high crux. Eventually, she got through that section but was obviously “gassed out” by the effort and after shaking out for what seemed an age ultimately timed out on the route and had to settle for bronze. Mori had won her second gold of the season displacing Garnbret who finished with silver for the second time in as many comps.
Men's Event
Opening the competition for the men, Taisei Homma, Ao Yurikusa and Jesse Grupper took the top three spots after qualification; Olympic Champion Alberta Gines Lopez finished in 4th and Colin Duffy in 5th. The semi-final saw quite a change in the fortunes of the climbers; Kopar gold medallist Luka Potacar finished in the top spot with Jesse Grupper in 2nd and Colin Duffy in 3rd. Crucially for Toby Roberts, having finished the qualification in 23rd – two places behind Jim Pope in 21st, he finished the semi’s in 6th place; for the first time in his young senior international career and in only his second ever senior WC competition, Roberts had made finals!
Climbing first Yoshiyuki Ogata posted a super-solid performance; sadly for him however he was ultimately judged to have stood on a bolt and his final score was marked down considerably. Stefan Scherz climbed next and fell just a move under Ogata’s original score. Toby Roberts was up next and he too fell at the same point as Scherz having battled hard. Having finished the semi higher than Scherz, Roberts was placed second behind Ogata at that stage. It was turning into a nail-biting final, not least for Roberts and GB Climbing!
When Sascha Lehmann, Masahiro Higuchi and then Colin Duffy all fell relatively low down thereby failing to make any impression on the leader board Roberts was guaranteed a fourth-place finish with Jesse Gropper and Luka Potacar still to climb. Jesse Grupper had finished quals and semis with just six and three seconds respectively still on the clock so everyone watching knew he was a slow climber. Inching his way up the wall, Grupper first passed Ogata’s then high-point and slowly pressed on for the top. Ultimately, he clipped the lower-off just as his allotted six minutes ended! Climbing last Potacar couldn’t match his Koper form and fell at the same point as Ogata. However, when Ogata was scored down having stood on a lower bolt, Roberts was confirmed as the third-placed finisher behind Potacar and Grupper.
Finishing Edinburgh with a bronze Roberts has not only had a superb run of late – he won two silvers at the World Youth Championships in Dallas, USA and two gold medals in the European Youth Championships earlier in the summer - but his performance in Edinburgh has given GB Climbing a new hero – finally!!
Edinburgh Results
Watch the Edinburgh highlights below…