25 GB Climbing athletes to compete in Salt Lake City and Graz
With the 2024 international competition season now firmly underway, teams are gearing up for events in Salt Lake City, USA, and Graz, Austria.
Toby Roberts returns to Salt Lake City for the Boulder World Cup Round 2 after securing the bronze there in 2023. At the opening Boulder World Cup in Keqiao, China, Roberts finished just off the podium in 4th.
Joining him in the team is 24-year-old Eugenie Robinson-Lee (Boulder), and 21-year-old Mathew Fall (Speed). Both are making their 2024 season debuts. Lee aims to surpass her 45th place finish at the 2023 Seoul World Cup, while Fall seeks to improve upon his 21st place finish from the 2022 Edinburgh World Cup.
Liam Briddon, GB Climbing coach, expressed excitement about the Salt Lake City leg, stating, “Salt Lake City is always an exciting part of the Boulder World Cup season, with our GB athletes aiming to make their mark on the competition.”
Competing in the Paraclimbing World Cup, is 55-year-old Matt Styles-West, entering his second international competition after placing 10th at the 2023 Paraclimbing IFSC World Championships in Bern. Styles-West will compete in the Paraclimbing competition in the AU3 category. Debutant Mat Armitage will also join the Paraclimbing team, competing in the AL2 category.
The full team is detailed below.
Zoe Spriggins, the GB Paraclimbing team manager, said: “Over the past few years we have seen the strength and depth of our Paraclimbing team grow and they continue to raise the bar. We are now less than three months away from the IFSC European Championships in Villars and we see this World Cup event in Salt Lake City as an opportunity for our paraclimbing team to fine tune their performances in an elite competition environment”.
The team in Salt Lake City will receive support from GB Climbing coaches Liam Briddon and Jamie Vardy, with Tristian Roberts joining as the team official.
IFSC Youth European Cup Graz
The final Boulder Youth European Cup of 2024 sees our athletes head out to Graz. The U20 athletes, Rhys Conlon, Emma Edwards and Luca Martins, look to add to their string of impressive results in 2024, all three saw their best results of the season in Curno in early April with Edwards placing fourth, Conlon 13th and Martins finishing in 20th.
Sam Hammond takes to the mats for the second time this year after placing seventh in Curno. Joining Hammond in the men’s U18 competition will be Finley Kerswell who placed 26th in Curno and 15th in Soure and Tom Steele who placed 54th in Curno.
Imogen Lilley will kick off her Youth European Cup 2024 campaign in Graz after withdrawing from Curno due to illness.
The full team of 15 is detailed below.
Michelle Forrest, GB Climbing coach, said: 'We're really excited to be out in Graz with a big team. I'm psyched to see what our incredibly talented athletes can do this weekend, as historically Graz has been a great competition for GB Climbing, with Dayan Akhtar taking gold in 2022 and in 2023 we saw seven finalists resulting in two podium finishes from Louise Flockhart (bronze) and Lucy Garlick (silver).”
The Youth European Cup team will be supported by GB Climbing Coaches Rachel Carr, Jon Redshaw and Michelle Forrest with Michelle Hordern joining as chaperone.
Full teams:
World Cup, Salt Lake City
Boulder
Dayan Akhtar
Lucy Garlick
Toby Roberts
Eugenie Robinson-Lee
Speed
Matthew Fall
Paraclimbing
Mat Armitage- AL2
Jesse Dufton- B1
Laurence Morgan - RP1
James Rudge- AU2
Matt Styles-West- AU3
Luke Smith- RP3
Coaches and Officials
Liam Briddon
Jamie Vardy
Tristian Roberts (team official)
European Youth Cup, Graz
U20
Rhys Conlon
Emma Edwards
Luca Martins
U18
Connie Bridgens
Izzy Bridgens
Sam Hammond
Finley Kerswell
Fae MacDougall
Tom Steele
U16
Tom Bouwknegt
Imogen Lilley
Florence Nuttall
Isabella Rinaldi
Harveer Seikham
Coaches
Rachel Carr
Michelle Forrest
Jon Redshaw
Michelle Hordern (chaperone)
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