Yip falls short of qualifying on rock wall
No Canadian will claim one of the first Olympic medals awarded in sport climbing, with Alannah Yip falling short of qualifying for the women’s final after a standout performance in a discipline she’s not known for, but less than ideal results in the remainder of the competition.
Yip finished 14th in the combined event’s qualification phase on Wednesday, from which the top eight of 20 climbers move on.
Fellow Canadian Sean Mccoll took a 17th-place finish in the men’s qualifier the previous day, so Canada’s hopes for a medal in the sport were left hanging on Yip.
“It was a roller-coaster, I can be happy with some things and obviously not as pleased with other things, but at the end of the day, I still got to compete here. I still got to be a part of this historic event, showing the world the sport that I love so much,” Yip said, after her final climb. “And I became an Olympian today.”
The 27-year-old made a remarkably strong Olympic debut on the speed climbing wall, smashing her personal best on the first run, only to follow it up by an even stronger performance in the second speed round.
Yip’s early momentum then faded in the bouldering competition, where she was unable to top any of the four routes (known as “problems”) that athletes had five minutes to try to solve. She did reach the zone, a preliminary hold, on two.
Her struggle to execute meant a 16th-place finish in that competition.
With a fall midway up the 15-metre lead climbing wall, and a 12th-place finish in that competition, Yip saw her chance to progress to the final slip away.
Lead challenges competitors to climb as high as they can in one shot within a sixminute window, with speed determining the leader if multiple athletes reach the top, run out of time, or fall at the same height.
Korea’s Chaehyun Seo took first place in lead, and second overall in the qualifier. Garnbret claimed the top spot and host country Japan had two competitors advance to the final — Miho Nonaka and Akiyo Noguchi — while American Brooke Raboutou, Austrian Jessica Pilz, Poland’s Aleksandra Miroslaw, and France’s Anouck Jaubert rounded out the top eight.