Another early start. We left the campsite in Jablines today, and had to be in Le Bourget by 10 o’clock for the Olympic sport climbing competition. Our plans went well. We got ready, dumped our waste water, exited the campsite and headed to Gressy where I’d found a car park I hoped would be suitable for Molly Moho for the day. When we arrived there, it seemed perfect… no height barriers and a small village which didn’t appear to be the crime capital of France. We cycled 10 minutes to Mitry-Claye station, locked the bikes, bought tickets and caught the train to Le Bourget.
Once there, again the organisation was impeccable. There were volunteers everywhere, pointing us in the direction of the climbing stadium, and police and army personnel with huge guns, keeping us safe. I was too scared to take their photo though. 😆
Once inside the stadium, we bought a cold drink and made our way to our seats. It was very hot and I was glad I had my hat and plenty of water. Thankfully, just as I was starting to melt after an hour or so, random clouds kept covering the sun, allowing me to cool down. An ice cream and a cold, wet flannel also helped. 🥵
The day’s competitions started with the women’s lead climbing semi-final, in which 20 women took it in turns to try to make it to the top of a wall over 15 metres high, with an overhang, within 6 minutes. Before the start, they were given 6 minutes to look at the wall to consider potential routes. Points were awarded for reaching zones on the wall, with holds that got progressively harder and scored more points, up to a maximum of 100 points.
In the overall competition, points were combined for boulder and lead climbing. The bouldering had already taken place and Team GB’s Erin McNeice and Molly Thompson-Smith entered the lead semi-finals in 10th and 19th place after that event.
Erin was the second woman to climb and did really well, reaching the hardest section of the wall with yellow holds. Then, suddenly, she missed a hold and fell. Back at the bottom, she seemed frustrated with herself and we expected her score to be beaten quite quickly. However, it soon became apparent how well she’d done as many others subsequently failed to match her score, including many of those who’d scored better than her in the boulder event.
Molly, the other competitor for team GB, climbed well too, especially considering she’d recently had a broken ankle and been training on 1 leg. However, despite a decent score in lead, unfortunately she didn’t do well enough to reach the final after a disappointing boulder score.
It was really exciting because screens showed how many points each climber needed to come top, and which holds they needed to reach on the wall to achieve those points. Some climbers are better at lead and others at boulder so those who had big scores in the boulder round, wouldn’t necessarily get big scores in lead. A few people who climbed higher than Erin, didn’t beat her because their boulder scores had been low.
There were lots of surprises as climbers fell before they had the points they needed, and we watched nervously as Erin gradually slipped down the leader board. She had to come in the top 8 to get to the final. Thankfully, she finished in 7th place 👏
After a short break it was time for the men’s speed climbing final. In this event 2 climbers race up a 15m high wall with a 5 degree lean, competing against each other in a knockout competition. The 20 hand- and 11 foot-holds on the wall are always exactly the same in speed climbing competitions. Climbers start their timed ascent by placing 1 of their feet on a timing plate. They can begin climbing after the third beep from an automatic timing system. Their ascent is finished once they slap the touchpad at the top of the route, or once they fall off the wall. There were no climbers from Great Britain in this event.
The climbs were fast and furious, and the competitors were mostly really close, with climbs lasting less than 5 seconds. Sam Watson from the USA had set a world record of 4.75 seconds in the previous round and was therefore top of the 8 finalists. He won his semi-final but lost in the quarter final to go through to the ‘small final’. He eventually secured the bronze medal with a new world record of 4.74 seconds, with the gold medal winner matching his earlier record in the main final. Margins were so small, the tiniest of mistakes mattered and it seemed anyone could have won on the day!
We both thoroughly enjoyed the lead and speed climbing events and were sad that our Olympics was over after these competitions. We agreed it was a great way to celebrate our pearl wedding anniversary. We treated ourselves to lunch in a typical French brasserie on our way back to the station, before returning to collect Molly. We then travelled to an aire an hour North of Paris, beginning our journey home.
Ramblings 
Leave a comment