Veddriq Leonardo wins Speed Climbing at Paris 2024 Olympic Games

13:00
FINAL: Veddriq Leonardo vs Peng Wu. For the first gold in Speed. The fastest race in the Olympics... Leonardo wins in 4.75 seconds! Silver for Wu Peng 4.77

12:56
Small final for bronze: Samuel Watson vs Reza Alipour Shenazandifard. Watson wins with a new world record. 4:47 vs 4:88

12:52
Second semifinal: Veddriq Leonardo vs Reza Alipour Shenazandifard. Clash of titans. Leonardo wins. 4.78 vs 4.84

12:48
First semifinal: Samuel Watson vs. Peng Wu. Wu Peng beats the fastest man in the world!! 4:93 vs 4.48

12:44
Amir Maimuratov vs Reza Alipour Shenazandifard. Maimuratov slips, Reza wins! 5.57 vs 6.14

12:42
Veddriq Leonardo vs Bassa Mawem, the crowd favourite. What pressure! Leonardo wins, 4.488 vs 5.26. But 5.26 is Mawem's personal best. In his last ever competition! What an amazing way to bid farewell to the world of competition climbing!

12:38
Matteo Zurloni vs Peng Wu. Wu Peng wins, beating the World Champion, 4.995 vs 4.997

12:37
Samuel Watson vs. Julian David. Watson wins

12:30
Speed! We're off!
12:07
Now we'll take a break for 30 minutes and then continue with the Men's Speed ​​Final. The comp that will award the first historic medal in this discipline!

12:06

12:05
Last out is Janja Garnbret. The crowd welcomes her as if she were their queen! Or French ;-) She climbs harmoniously, is evidently in her best self bubble, takes her time where necessary, chalks up on practically every hold. The Slovenian makes it look like a walk in the park. Then all of a sudden she's up there, on those last two holds, one foot on the volume, poised for the dyno to the finishing jug which she touches... but doesn't hold. So no top in the women's round either, but this is a minor, insignificant detail. Garnbret qualifies in first place with 195.7 points, ie she dropped only 4.3 points out of the 200 points available. How impressive is that!!!

11:56
Ai Mori, the second-to-last athlete in the comp, sets off without showing any signs of pressure, as if she just happened to be here, by chance. But she knows that after her disappointing Boulder performance, her Olympics are on the line. She climbs effortlessly, resting where the others had to race upwards. Hers is a climbing masterclass, up until the top where she falls dynoing for the final jug. Her phenomenal performance results in a total of 150.1 points. Two thirds of which gained just now. Nice one Mori!

11:51
Brooke Raboutou has already shown her talent in Boulder and must now remain concentrated for Lead. She immediately finds the right rhythm, seems relaxed, never stops, exits the steepest section of wall and continues her amazing climb past the yellow volumes. She drops off a tiny crimp and a little dyno, and ends up with 155.8 points and in provisional second place. What a great performance by the young American!

11:45
All eyes are now on Jessica Pilz as she starts her climb. Styles upwards without hesitation, rests where necessary, carefully managing her strength for later. Then she shifts down a gear, exits the overhang and - there where the best had fallen - proves she's on fire. Sticks the tiny crimps and pushes off the volume as the top is in sight, but then it's over as she makes a desperate lunge into the void. What an excellent, stunning performance. 156.9 points. Pilz provisional Paris first.

11:39
Natalia Grossman climbs safely, but halfway through the overhang she misreads a move and suddenly falls. Major upset from the multiple World Cup winner! She totals 108.3 points, a score which unfortunately won't be enough for the finals

11:32
First Team Japan athlete Miho Nonaka climbs quickly, takes few rests, powers upwards. Coming out of roof a couple of dynos prove costly. Her Olympic dream ends here as she finishes with 115.5 points. Which means that Erin McNeice is mathematically in the finals!

11:29
Oriane Bertone is up next. Once again the crowd goes insane, pushes her upwards as she climbs precisely and quickly. But something's not right, she struggles though the traverse, every hold becomes a conquest. The clip that troubled a few of her rivals proves difficult, exhausting. She tries to stay glued to the wall, makes a kneebar, hooks her heel. But a few holds later she's off! Her lead performance, somewhat underpar, is enough though and she's provisional first with 129.6 points!

11:22
Chaehyun Seo now takes the stage and first she takes a momento to observe the route one last time. Then she's off, knowing this is her moment. She climbs confidently, composed and, almost effortlessly, reaches the upper headwall. The end is in sight, but then she drops off two tiny crimps. The best performance so far! She finishes with a total score of 116.3. Will it be enough to qualify for the final? We'll find out soon...

11:17
Mia Krampl breezes through the first section with ease, reaches the rest in the middle but ploughs upwards, resting further on where the others struggled. But then she misreads a move exiting the overhang, her heelhook slips off, dashing her Olympic medals dreams. She finishes with 79.5 points.

11:11
Oceania Mackenzie is on dazzling form and in Boulder two days ago she placed fourth position. Now she climbs fast, taking some calculated risks, but halfway through the overhang she becomes tense, her face tightens knowing that she's in trouble. She decides to skip a clip to try to get a higher score, then ends her run with a huge fall into the void. Intelligent climb by the Australian, who's in the running for the final with 124.7 points. Currently the highest score.

11:06
Molly Thompson-Smith is out next, looking for vital points after a disappointing Boulder round. She climbs the entire route without a moment of hesitation, rests where she needs to, powers through the traverse. On the blue holds the pump begins to set in and a few holds later she falls. She ends her run with a huge smile, safe in the knowledge that she's given it her all. Her final score is 66.8. What an Olympic experience she's had!

11:01
Laura Rogora now enters the arena, this is her specialty and she can finally make up for her poor show in Bouldering. The route is definitely her style and she should be able to gain important points here. She climbs slowly, takes her time, milks the big rest before the traverse. The exit from the overhang has a long move, she invents a different sequence, heel hooks high and continues. A few holds later though she's tense, fatigue sets in and she falls. In other situations she could definitely have done more, but the tension here in Paris is almost unbearable. She ends with 70.3 points.

10:55
The route seems more doable than yesterday. Precision and speed are fundamental, but it looks like a classic power resistance test without too many high-risk moves. Zhilu Luo sets off, fast and confident, but towards the end of the overhang she runs out of steam, finishing with a score of 111.7.

10:48
The raucous crowd welcomes the first French athlete, Zelia Avezou, and their screams seem to lift her upwards. While the cheers and drumrolls continue in the background, Avezou continues on the foreground, quickly through the first part of the route to easily reach the same quickdraw that proved Kazbekova's undoing. Unfortunately Avezou falls here, too, when she clearly had more in her tank. She finishes her Olympic test with a total score of 94.4.

10:45
It's early days yet but it's clear that Erin McNeice, second out, put in a great performance. Maybe great enough to qualify for the final...

10:43
Yuetong Zhang starts off very slowly, she doesn't seem to find the right feeling with the route. But she doesn't make any mistakes and continues inexorably, constantly, at the same speed as she enters the final part of the wall. Then the pump sets in and after another 3 holds she drops off, having stuck the crimp McNeice failed to reach. New highpoint but only 97.8 points in total.

10:35
Ievgeniia Kazbekova has worked hard to be here in Paris today. She climbs focused through the entire first section, takes a few risks, but then grinds to a halt fumbling a clip. She tries repeatedly to clip it, fails, then decides to push on. She adds another three holds then drops off. 81.5 points

10:30
Camilla Moroni out next. She know's she'll have to  grit her teeth in order to get a good result in what isn't her preferred discipline. She seem nervous, at the same time though she's quick as she tries spend as little time as possible on those small holds. Unfortunately her heelhook slips off while there's still plenty left in the tank. She exits the area a little disappointed, finishing her test with 100.1 points.

10:26
Lucia Dörffel out next. A quick look at the route and then she sets off, upwards, determined. Her speed slowly decreases while her tiredness increases. She starts to climb less precisely, then fails to stick the dyno while exiting the main overhang. She ends her Olympics with a score of 80.3. She smiles, but knows it's not enough for the final.

10:19
Erin McNeice enters the arena, expectations are high after the amazing performance in Budapest! She races through the start, powers through the overhang, waves to spectators for support and they cheer her raucously. Without struggling she reaches the headwall, but then falls unexpectedly going for a crimp. She's disappointed, she knows she could have got that one. What a performance though! She concludes her climb, with a final score of 123.7.

10:12
Pure joy, that's what was written all over Lauren Mukheibir's face as she took the stage! She starts securely through the first moves, doesn't want to make mistakes and gain some points after failing to gain any in boulder. And she does! She falls after a first traverse to the left, ending her Olympic adventure with a total score of 4.

10:02
We've just had a quick glance at the route, the line is a bit more direct than yesterday and uses less of the overhang. We'll see some great climbing no doubt! Currently the athletes are checking the route from the ground. They have 6 minutes before returning to isolation.

9:58
Lead is about to begin. Just a quick reminder about the Olympic scoring system which is significantly differentl from World Cup events. There are four scoring sections on the wall, and the higher they climb the more points they are awarded. Scores are assigned to each hold in descending order, starting from the top: the 10 highest holds, including the top, are worth four points each, followed by 10 holds that are worth three points each, 10 that are worth two points each, and 10 that are worth one point each. Any remaining hold before the start of the route has no point value. There will be signage on the wall to tell you the sections. An additional 0.1 points is awarded for using, but not controlling a hold.

9:46
Only a few minutes left before the competition kicks off. Currently it's quite mild in Paris, and this will surely help the female athletes competing today in the Lead semifinal. Yesterday the men's route was extremely tough, perhaps too tough even, with highest scoring Alberto Ginés López falling about 10 moves from the top. In any case the pressure was intense and competition fierce and exciting. Hopefully more athletes will reach the upper part of the wall in their battle to qualify for the final. Remember, it's today's score added to Boulder, that decides which 8 proceed to the last round. Janja Garnbret leads the provisional ranking with 99.6 points. Home-favourite Orianne Bertone blows the roof off and places second, ahead of Brooke Raboutou

7:35
Thursday 8 August, day 4 of sport climbing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Today is the big day for the men's Speed climbing, as their historic first medals will be awarded just at 13:00. Before that though there's the women's Lead.

For those not in the French capital, here's the complete list of how to watch the Olympic Games, including Eurosport with the excellent Shauna Coxsey and Matt Groom. Join planetmountain for the latest sport climbing news from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Our reporting will begin shortly before 10:00. The athletes competing today are:

WOMEN'S BOULDER & LEAD
Janja Garnbret (SLO) - 1. World Championships Bern 2023
Jessica Pilz (AUT) - 2. World Championships Bern 2023
Ai Mori (JPN) - 3. World Championships Bern 2023
Oriane Bertone (FRA) - 1. European Qualifier Laval 2023
Natalia Grossman (USA) - 1. Pan American Games Santiago 2023
Yuetong Zhang (CHN) - 1. Asian Qualifier Jakarta 2023
Oceania Mackenzie (AUS) - 1. Oceania Qualifier Melbourne 2023
Lauren Mukheibir (RSA) - 1. African Qualifier Pretoria 2023
Brooke Raboutou (USA) - 1. Olympic Qualifier Series
Miho Nonaka (JPN) - 2. Olympic Qualifier Series
Erin McNeice (GBR) - 3. Olympic Qualifier Series
Chaehyun Seo (KOR) - 4. Olympic Qualifier Series
Zhilu Luo (CHN) - 5. Olympic Qualifier Series
Ievgeniia Kazbekova (UKR) - 6. Olympic Qualifier Series
Mia Krampl (SLO) - 8. Olympic Qualifier Series
Lucia Dörffel (GER) - 9. Olympic Qualifier Series
Zélia Avezou (FRA) - 10. Olympic Qualifier Series
Camilla Moroni (ITA) - 11. Olympic Qualifier Series
Laura Rogora (ITA) - 12. Olympic Qualifier Series
Molly Thompson-Smith (GBR) - 13. Olympic Qualifier Series

MEN'S SPEED
Matteo Zurloni (ITA) - 1. World Championships Bern 2023
Jinbao Long (CHN) - 2. World Championships Bern 2023
Bassa Mawem (FRA) - 1. European Qualifier Rome 2023
Samuel Watson (USA) - 1. Pan American Games Santiago 2023
Rahmad Adi Mulyono (INA) - 1. Asian Qualifier Jakarta 2023
Julian David (NZL) - 1. Oceania Qualifier Melbourne 2023
Joshua Bruyns (RSA) - African Qualifier Pretoria 2023
Peng Wu (CHN) - 1. Olympic Qualifier Series
Veddriq Leonardo (INA) - 2. Olympic Qualifier Series
Amir Maimuratov (KAZ) - 3. Olympic Qualifier Series
Zachary Hammer (USA) - 6. Olympic Qualifier Series
Reza Alipour Shenazandifard (IRI) - 7. Olympic Qualifier Series
Yaroslav Tkach (UKR) - 8. Olympic Qualifier Series
Euncheol Shin (KOR) - 11. Olympic Qualifier Series