Toby Roberts (born 15 March 2005) is a British rock climber who specialises in competition climbing and in outdoor sport climbing. He is the youngest British climber to redpoint a 9a (5.14d)-graded sport climbing route. He is the 2024 Olympic champion in sport climbing.
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| Nationality | English | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 15 March 2005[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Edgeborough School,[2] Surrey King Edward's School,[3] Surrey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 177 cm (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | tobyroberts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Early life and education
editRoberts comes from Elstead, Surrey, the son of Tristian and Marina Roberts.[4]
Roberts attended Edgeborough School, an independent coeducational day preparatory school in Frensham (a village near Farnham) in Surrey, where he was introduced to climbing in 2013,[2] followed by King Edward's School, an independent boarding and day school in Wormley (a village near Witley), also in Surrey.[3]
Climbing career
editRock climbing
editIn 2015, at only ten years of age, Roberts redpointed the historic 8a (5.13b) graded British sport climbing route, Raindogs, at Malham Cove in North Yorkshire.[5] In 2020, aged 15, Roberts became the youngest British climber to climb a 9a (5.14d) graded sport route when he redpointed Steve McClure's Rainshadow, also at Malham Cove.[5] In 2021, Roberts became the 12th climber to redpoint Ben Moon's historic sport route, Hubble, at Raven Tor (the world's first 8c+-graded route).[6][7]
Competition climbing
editRoberts first started competing in international youth competition climbing events in 2019. In 2022, Roberts began his transition towards the international senior competition circuit, winning a bronze medal in lead climbing at the IFSC Climbing World Cup in Edinburgh in September 2022.
In May 2023, Roberts won his first World Cup medal in bouldering with a third-place finish in Salt Lake City. He went on to win his first World Cup gold medal in bouldering with a victory in Brixen in June 2023 followed by his first World Cup gold medal in lead climbing with a victory in Chamonix in July 2023, becoming the first British climber to win a gold medal in both the bouldering and lead climbing disciplines.[8][9] In October 2023, he became the first male British climber–and the second British climber after Shauna Coxsey–to secure a spot in the Olympics for climbing by winning the 2023 European Qualifier in Laval.[10][11]
At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Roberts won a gold medal in the combined bouldering and lead climbing event, becoming the first British climber to win an Olympic medal.[12][13] Subsequently, he finished first overall in the 2024 Lead World Cup series[14] and first overall in the 2024 Lead rankings and Combined rankings.[15]
Rankings
editIFSC Climbing World Cup
edit| Discipline | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boulder | 4 | 5 | |
| Lead | 20 | 5 | 1 |
| Combined | 1 |
IFSC Climbing World Championships
editYouth
edit| Discipline | 2022 Youth A |
|---|---|
| Boulder | 2 |
| Lead | 2 |
Senior
edit| Discipline | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Boulder | 19 |
| Lead | 9 |
| Boulder & Lead | 5 |
Number of medals at the IFSC Climbing World Cup
edit| Season | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2023 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2024 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Total | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| Season | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2024 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Number of medals at the Summer Olympics
editCombined
edit| Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Notable ascents
editRedpointed routes
edit9a+ (5.15a):
- Gancho Perfecto – Margalef (Spain) – 2024. Months after winning his Olympic gold medal, Roberts repeated the popular Chris Sharma route, marking his hardest send to date.
9a (5.14d):
- Batman – Malham Cove (United Kingdom) – 2021. Became the youngest British climber to redpoint a 9a/+-graded route at age 16.[6]
- Rainshadow – Malham Cove (United Kingdom) – 2020. Became the youngest British climber to redpoint a 9a-graded route at age 15.[6]
8c+ (5.14c):
Other:
- Revelations 8b (5.13d) – Raven Tor (United Kingdom) – October 2016. Became the youngest British climber to redpoint an 8b-graded route at age 11 by repeating Jerry Moffatt's historic sport climbing route.[17]
- Raindogs 8a (5.13b) – Malham Cove (United Kingdom) – October 2015. Became the youngest British climber to redpoint an 8a-graded route at age 10 by repeating the historic sport climbing route.[5][18]
See also
edit
- Will Bosi, British rock and competition climber
References
edit- ^ "Sport Climbing ROBERTS Toby". European Championships Munich 2022. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ^ a b "Toby climbs his way to the top". Farnham Herald. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ a b "Climbing Feat". King Edward's School, Witley. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ Peddy, Chris (3 April 2024). "Paris 2024: Team GB's first male Olympic sport climber Toby Roberts has sights on gold". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ a b c Sterling, Sarah (9 December 2020). "Toby Roberts becomes youngest Brit to climb 9a". BMC. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Toby Roberts repeats Hubble at Raven Tor in England". PlanetMountain.com. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ a b "Toby Roberts is Strongest Brit You Probably Haven't Heard Of". Gripped.com. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ "Britain's teenage sensation Toby Roberts". Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ "Gold for Roberts at Lead World Cup Chamonix". services.thebmc.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
- ^ "British teenager Roberts seals historic Olympic place". BBC Sport. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ Berry, Nathalie (29 October 2023). "Toby Roberts Qualifies for Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Laval". UK Climbing Magazine. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "Teenager Roberts wins climbing gold for Team GB". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "Team GB teenager Toby Roberts secures climbing gold at Paris Olympics". Sky News. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ Pardy, Aaron (2024-10-11). "Olympic Gold Medalist Sends 5.15a in Spain". Gripped Magazine. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
- ^ "Official website of the International Federation of Sport Climbing". www.ifsc-climbing.org. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
- ^ a b "Toby Roberts". International Federation of Sport Climbing. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
- ^ Berry, Nathalie (1 November 2016). "Revelations 8b by 11 year-old Toby Roberts". UK Climbing Magazine. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ Berry, Nathalie (27 October 2015). "Youngest Ascent of Raindogs 8a for 10 year-old Toby Roberts". UK Climbing Magazine. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
External links
edit- Who is Toby Roberts? The first British male climber to qualify for the Olympics, Team GB (October 2023)