Paris Olympics: A Guide to the Sport Climbing Competition and Key Athletes to Watch
A guide to the sport climbing competition at the Paris Games:
Top Athletes to Watch
– Janja Garnbret from Slovenia: A dominant climber with eight world championships and an Olympic gold medal.
– Sam Watson from the United States: A young speed-climbing specialist who qualified for Paris by winning gold at the Pan American Games.
– Aleksandra Miroslaw from Poland: The women’s speed-climbing world record holder.
– Sorato Anraku from Japan: A top-ranked athlete in lead and boulder at just 17 years old.
– Jakob Schubert from Austria: A six-time world champion and bronze medalist at the Tokyo Olympics.
Notable Storylines
– Janja Garnbret aims to defend her Olympic gold and has spoken out against the pressure to stay thin in the sport.
– Speed climbing records are expected to continue falling at the Paris Games.
– Changes to the competition format will see separate gold medals awarded for bouldering and lead events, as well as for speed climbing.
Important Dates
– The competition runs from August 5 to August 10, with the women’s speed final on August 7 and the men’s on August 8. The combined boulder and lead finals will be on August 9 for men and August 10 for women.
Defending Champions
– Women’s combined: Janja Garnbret from Slovenia.
– Men’s combined: Alberto Ginés López from Spain.
Source: https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/525150.aspx
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Mykolas Alekna breaks men’s discus world record with throw of 74.35m
Australian Matthew Denny’s quest to win discus gold at the Paris Olympics got harder, with Mykolas Alekna breaking the oldest world record in men’s track and field.
The Lithuanian powerhouse took advantage of windy conditions in the unlikely setting of Ramona, Oklahoma, on Monday AEST, to set a new mark of 74.35 metres.
The previous best of 74.08m was set by German Juergen Schult way back in 1986.
Having finished fourth at last year’s world championships and the Tokyo Olympics, Denny is a serious medal contender at the Paris Games.
But if he is to secure top spot on the podium, the Queenslander will need to find a way past reigning world and Olympic champion Daniel Stahl from Sweden, as well as Alekna, who at just 21 is six years younger than the Australian.
“I’ve said my focus was to win the Olympics and a lot of people haven’t taken that too seriously,” Denny said after his record-breaking throw on Saturday.
“Which is fair enough considering I’m fourth in the order right now, fourth in the rankings and I haven’t broken that 70-metre mark.
“Today we didn’t have huge winds or anything.
“That’s a replicable (sic) throw in an Olympics and that changes my argument on being competitive and looking for that win in Paris.”
Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-15/mykolas-alekna-breaks-men-discus-world-record/103708542
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Torrie Lewis, Ebony Lane, Bree Masters, and Ella Connolly break national 4x100m record to secure Olympics spot for Australia
A squad anchored by Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis has smashed the national 4x100m record for the second time this year to claim an automatic spot at the Paris Olympics.
Racing at the World Relays meet in the Bahamas, Ebony Lane, Bree Masters, Ella Connolly and Lewis clocked 42.83 seconds to finish second in their heat behind Germany.
It was the fifth fastest overall time, with the top two in each heat advancing to the final and guaranteeing their places for the Olympics in early August.
“I think we all had a lot of trust in each other, so we said, you know what, let’s just relax, we’ve done the work and we’ve done this a million times,” Connolly said.
“Let’s just go do this and qualify for the Olympics together.”
The same quartet had flagged they were destined for great things by running 42.94 at the Sydney Track Classic in late March, breaking an Australian standard that had stood for 24 years.
Lewis, 19, is also well placed to contest either the individual 100m or 200m in Paris.
The US women were fastest in the Bahamas qualifying round in 42.21.
Australia’s 4x100m men went within a whisker of also claiming an automatic Olympic slot on day one at the World Relays.
The young team of Sebastian Sultana, Jacob Despard, Calab Law and Joshua Azzopardi clocked 38.50, only to be pipped for second spot by Jamaica in a photo finish.
They have another chance to shore up an Olympic berth in the repechage round on Monday (AEST).
“Jamaica have always been such a powerhouse team, so to even be in the same conversation with them is kind of surreal,” Azzopardi said.
“If we run roughly the same time tomorrow, then we should be going to Paris but we will need to execute and run to our full potential.”
If they are successful in that quest, Australia’s leading male sprinter Rohan Browning would be added to the relay squad in Paris.
An American team including world 100m and 200m champ Noah Lyles led the automatic qualifiers in 37.49 — the fastest time in the world this year.
Australia’s men’s and women’s 4x400m squads will contest the repechage rounds in the Bahamas on Sunday.
Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-05/torrie-lewis-and-team-break-4×100-national-record/103807212
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