Tokyo | 4 August – Olympic Sport Climbing continued tonight with the Women’s Qualification.

Kyra Condie (Salt Lake City) and Brooke Raboutou (Boulder, CO) competed in the Olympic Combined format of speed, bouldering and lead. Out of a field of 20 athletes, Raboutou and Condie climbed to 5th and 11th, respectively, with Raboutou making the top eight to advance to the Women’s Final on Friday, 6 August.

Speed 

The qualification format was the same as the Men’s event on Tuesday night. Each athlete had two runs with their fastest time being used to advance. Condie and Raboutou finished with 8.08 and 8.67, respectively, with Raboutou setting a new competition PR. Their times earned them 7th and 12th as the athletes moved on to bouldering.

Bouldering 

The women each faced four problems. Raboutou earned three tops and one zone and finished in 2nd. Condie climbed to one top and two zones to finish 11th. After speed and bouldering, Raboutou was ranked 3rd and Condie in 9th.

Lead

The Combined format ended with Lead. Raboutou climbed to 26+ finishing 8th and Condie climbed to 22+ ending in 11th.

Their rankings for each of the three disciplines were multiplied resulting in their finishing positions of 5th and 11th.

Athlete Quotes After Qualifications

From Brooke Raboutou:

On her performance, “I was very happy with my speed performance today. I was able to get two very clean runs, which is not always the case. The wall is really great and everyone is excited. Definitely a few nerves for me at the beginning as expected, but overall I am happy with my time. Bouldering I was very happy with and was able to be very present in the moment, which can be hard to do in such a big competition, and execute the climbs really well. I found them very physical, which I really enjoy. For lead, that’s usually my best discipline, and I’m happy with my climbing but wish I got to show a little bit more of how hard I’ve worked and what I’ve got left.”

On being a part of Team USA, “This is team is pretty special. I’m so excited that our US team has been able to step it up this last year. I think we all feel each other’s energy and are thriving off of each other as a team, and that’s just making a big difference. We’re here to stay so we’re excited.”

On the climbing community, “I think the community is one of the most special things about climbing. Everyone’s genuinely happy for each other, and wants each other succeed. Of course they want to do well themselves, but you see teams laughing, really good friends, going on trips together, and sharing information for everyone to do their best. Everyone knows each other and it’s a tight community.”

From Kyra Condie:

On her performance, “I was really happy with how speed went and was pretty happy with how bouldering went. Of course I’m kicking myself for not finishing that fourth boulder because it would have put me in a good spot. I was proud of my fight on this lead climb because there was a move that’s really, really difficult for me with my spinal fusion right in the middle. Before going out, I was definitely worried about it and then it felt even harder than I expected. That was really hard mentally on the wall to get through and threw me off, but I was really happy that I was able to do that move and keep going.”

On the Olympic dream, “As soon as climbing got into the Olympics, it was a dream turned into a reality, or potential reality. And then realizing that, qualifying and now finally being here after a two year wait has been, honestly, a dream. This whole day I was climbing, but I could almost see myself in third person climbing – but in a good way. I felt really in a good spot and psyched, excited. Happy to represent my sport and try and show what it’s all about.”

Results and Photos

Full results can be found here. Article photos courtesy of Jon Glassberg / Louder Than 11 and IFSC photos can be found here.

Next Up

Sport Climbing continues on Thursday, 5 August with the Men’s Finals. Colin Duffy (Broomfield, CO) qualified 3rd and Nathaniel Coleman (Salt Lake City) qualified 8th and will represent Team USA in the elite Final field of eight.

For athlete bios or more information about Olympic Sport Climbing, please click here. Media inquiries should be directed to kelly@usaclimbing.org.