McNeice, Thompson-Smith and McArthur qualify for Paris Games
- Tuesday 25th June 2024
After the second and final leg of the Olympic Qualifier Series in Budapest over the weekend Erin McNeice, Molly Thompson-Smith and Hamish McArthur have all secured qualification places for the forthcoming Paris Olympic Games, thus joining Toby Roberts who had qualified previously at the European Qualifier in Lavel.
Arguably the favourites going into Budapest were the medalists from Shanghai; Brooke Raboutou (1st), Chaehyun Seo (2nd) and Erin McNeice (3rd) as well as Dohyun Lee (1st), Alberto Gines Lopez (2nd) and Adam Ondra (3rd). With only Oriane Bertone qualified via the Laval European Qualifier, the French Team needed to do well to secure their places. In particular, Sam Avezou, Mejdi Schalck and Paul Jenft were all competing for the two male places up for grabs. GB Climbing were also looking to boost the numbers of those qualified beyond Toby Roberts; as well as Erin NcNeice and Hamish McArthur –both of whom had made the finals at Shanghai - Molly Thompson-Smith, Jim Pope, Max Milne and Jack MacDougall were all competing. Amongst the other ‘names’ Alex Megos, Yannick Flohe and Stefano Grisolfi were all in the mix in the men’s along with Zelia Avezou, Manon Hily, Fanny Gilbert and Laura Rogora in the women’s.
As usual, the qualification and semi-final rounds were nothing if not brutal - not least because it was the end of the road for many. Although several climbers took to social media after the semi’s announcing (mathematically) that they had secured enough points to be assured qualification no formal declarations were made by the authorities until after the final had been held.
Women’s Final
The women’s finals were held first and having finished top in both the Boulder and Lead semi’s with a stellar performance Brooke Raboutou looked the favourite to win. Miho Nonaka however won the Boulder round but couldn’t hold that in the Lead in which Brooke Raboutou took a very well-deserved win forcing Miho Nonaka down into second. Erin McNeice, proving to be amazingly consistent overall, finished third in Boulder and fourth in Lead which was enough for her to take overall third at Budapest to match her performance in Shanghai. Other Lead specialists Chaehyun Seo and Laura Rogora had poor Boulder rounds so despite finishing with excellent Lead results both finished off the podium.
Following her victory in Budapest Brooke Raboutou said: “It’s hard to believe, I’m incredibly happy. It’s been a hard journey. I missed some chances to qualify. So it was panic, no, stress yes. It’s been a lot of heartbreak and a lot of growth.
"Honestly, I am grateful for it all. They say the harder the journey the better it feels, and I could not feel that more. I am incredibly proud about how much each stage taught me. I’ve had really good performances."
Men’s Final
Having topped both the Qualification and Semi-final rounds Tokyo gold medallist Alberto Gines Lopez looked as though he would win in the final. However, the men’s event in the afternoon started with a brutal, low-scoring Boulder round which was won by Sam Avezou; this forced Gines Lopez off the top spot and down into sixth. Mejdi Schalck, another strong boulderer, also finished down the table in fifth; ultimately, this would cost him dearly. Boyed up by his performance in Boulder, Sam Avezou finished the Lead in third place, marginally behind Dohyun Lee and Alberto Gines Lopez, but with enough points to secure the overall win at Budapest. Dohyun Lee, having won the Lead finished in second place with Adam Ondra coming in third – the same position as in Shanghai. Mejdi Schalck, failed to improve his overall standing in the Lead and ultimately finished in sixth place; his overall score from the OQS less than Paul Jenft who, despite not being in the Budapest final, took France’s second male qualification slot ahead of Schalck.
After winning at Budapest Sam Avezou said: “I never reacted this well to pressure before. You could see in Shanghai it wasn’t great (he slipped on the first hold of his lead climb in the final). I am super happy I could manage eventually the pressure here and yeah, probably under pressure my best climbs ever.”
Budapest Results
OQS Qualifiers
Once the Budapest final had been completed the athlete’s scores were added to the Shanghai results and the top twelve placed men and females to qualify for Paris were confirmed. Sadly, two climbers - Mejdi Schalck and Fataba Ito - were eliminated from the rankings given that two other team members had already qualified and in both cases, the thirteenth-placed athletes, Molly Thompson-Smith and Yufei Pan awarded qualification as a result.
The OQS Results
GB Climbing
GB Climbing are now one of a handful of countries to be sending a full quota of four competitors to the Combined Boulder and Lead competition in Paris. In addition to Great Britan, only three other countries - Japan, France and the USA – will be sending the full quota of four athletes to the Games. It’s worth remembering that at the 2021 Tokyo Games, Shauna Coxsey was the sole GB competitor; that in itself speaks to the quality and strength in depth of the current GB squad and to the dedication and efforts of all concerned including the coaches and support as well as athletes themselves.
Finally, for GB Climbing, Max Milne finished the OQS in 30th, Jack MacDougall in 32nd and Jim Pope in 43rd.
Paris Qualification
As the qualification process came to an end all twenty male and female athletes who will contest the Paris Combined Boulder and Lead medals are now known. A full list of the qualified climbers, together with where they qualified, is reproduced below. Some will continue to compete in the World Cup events over the summer no doubt to sharpen and test their game readiness but many may decide to rest then do a final block of training before the Paris Games which are scheduled for August.
