Roberts strikes gold after climbing solves big problem

Of the eight climbers huddled together at the bottom of the overhanging 15m wall in Paris, there was one who was there because he carried the dream of winning an Olympic medal.

- JAMIE BRAIDWOOD

For many, their journeys into the sport largely started because of a natural instinct rather than the buzz of competition. Great Britain’s Hamish McArthur, for example, could not stop clambering up trees or hanging off door frames as a child. Toby Roberts was not too dissimilar. He would attempt to escape his cot as a baby, before he topped his first wall at three years old, well before the point he knew what he was doing was a sport at all. Unencumbered by any sense of fear, he wanted to climb as high as he could, because that was the only direction he thought to go.

By the age of 12, Roberts and his father Tristan had already formed a plan. When sport climbing was introduced to the Olympics in 2016, Roberts and his father set their sights on winning gold in Paris. Eight years later, he stood as Britain’s first Olympic champion in sport climbing: mastering the combination of lead and boulder after displaying supreme skills across problem-solving, strength, agility and endurance. It was the fruition of a childhood dream and a long-term goal.

“It’s been a journey,” he said. “A lot of competitions, a lot of ups and downs. But to finally be on the stage, competing in front of this crowd and to win the gold medal was just like a dream come true.” After an excellent performance across the four problem sets on the shorter, 4.5-metre bouldering wall left him in third place, Roberts reached the upper section on the longer lead climb to strike gold for Team GB. He set an imposing combined total that Japan’s 17-year-old contender Sorato Anraku could not surpass.