Back to News One of the most pivotal climbing competitions of the year is well underway in Budapest, Hungary. With Olympic quota places on the line, the qualification rounds saw performances from some of the best athletes in the world, temperatures exceeding 90 degrees fahrenheit, and an ecstatic crowd, all in the beautiful Ludovika Campus. Just 40 Boulder & Lead athletes are advancing to the semi-final rounds, while 32 Speed athletes are advancing to the final rounds, down from a total 160 climbers at the start of the event. Annie Sanders competes in the women’s Sport Climbing Boulder Qualification. Photo: OIS/Kieran Cleeves. Which US athletes are advancing? Brooke Raboutou | Raboutou finished 2nd in the qualification rounds, securing her spot in the top 20 that advance to the Women’s Boulder & Lead semi-final. “I am really happy actually; I think that is a good breakthrough for me. I haven’t felt the way I’ve wanted to on lead and I was able to just let loose and climb like myself,” Raboutou said about the round. Annie Sanders | Sanders finished 7th in the qualification rounds, securing her spot in the top 20 that advance to the Women’s Boulder & Lead semi-final. Reflecting on her first two days of competition, Sanders said, “I just feel relaxed, I can have fun with it. It is nice to have the pressure off, just to compete for the fun of it.” Zach Hammer | Hammer finished 9th with a time of 5.10 seconds in the qualification round, securing his spot in the top 16 that advance to the Men’s Speed final. “Both my practice laps were slips, which can be a bit hard mentally, but I reset and decompressed, went out there and did my thing,” said Hammer. “And I ran a competition personal best of 5.16 seconds for the first lap, and for the second lap I ran another competition personal best of 5.10 seconds. Which is kind of the best round you can ask for.” How Do Athletes Qualify for the Olympics? Athletes compete for a maximum of 100 points across the 2 stops (50% awarded in Shanghai and 50% awarded in Budapest). Point allocation based on ranking is explained here, and the sum of points determines who qualifies for Paris 2024. In Boulder & Lead, 10 quota places will be available for each gender, while in Speed, five (5) quota places will be available for each gender. Additionally, eight (8) universality quota places will be awarded. As a reminder, just one (1) quota place is available for US climbers in the Women’s Boulder & Lead discipline, while one (1) quota place is available in the Men’s Speed discipline. How To Watch You can watch all the action live (or on-demand at any time after the event) on Olympics.com and the official Olympics app for mobile devices. Follow @usaclimbing on social media for competition updates and behind-the-scenes action.