- Toby Roberts pipped the favourite, Japan’s Sorato Anraku, to the gold medal
- Anraku only needed to match Roberts’ score to win but fell from the 15m wall
- The surprise success marked Team GB’s first-ever Olympic climbing medal
Toby Roberts secured a sensational Olympic gold medal for Team GB in a gripping men’s boulder and lead final – and made history in the process.
Roberts, aged just 19, took the top step on the podium after scoring an impressive 92.1 points on the lead wall, moving his overall score to 155.2.
Japan’s Sorato Anraku, widely viewed as the overwhelming favourite to clinch the title in Paris, fell on his final climb shortly after passing the 60-point mark.
That meant that Anraku settled for the silver while Austria’s Jakob Schubert secured the bronze. Britain’s other competitor, Hamish McArthur, finished fifth.
In topping the standings, Roberts, nicknamed ‘The Terminator’, secured Team GB’s first-ever climbing medal at the Olympics and a 14th British gold this summer.
Team GB’s Toby Roberts secured the combined gold medal in the men’s boulder and lead final
Roberts shared a touching embrace with his dad Tristan, a key part of his journey to gold
Mum Marina was also on hand to watch her son’s superb performance in the French capital
Sisters Katie (right) and Emma were able to celebrate their brother’s triumph as they cheered him on from the venue
Unable to believe his win, Roberts placed his head in his hands in disbelief after Anraku slipped on the ascent up the wall at the Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue.
Roberts, who honed his climbing skills on a DIY wall in his dad’s garden, had finished second in the first part of the final, contested over four boulders.
The Surrey-born talent then moved into provisional gold with only Anraku to come.
However, needing only to match Roberts’ score to push the Brit down into silver, the Japanese world silver medallist lost his grip and fell in a major shock.
‘I am just lost for words,’ Roberts told the BBC.
Roberts, aged just 19, beat overwhelming favourite Sorato Anraku after a stellar climb
He scored an impressive 92.1 points on the lead wall, moving his overall score to 155.2
Japan’s Anraku only needed to match Roberts’ effort to win but fell from the 15m wall
‘To find out that I had got the gold in that moment was truly incredible.
‘I’ve been training for this moment my whole life. To say that is hasn’t sunk in is an understatement. It’s a goal I’ve been training for, for 10 years. I’m in disbelief.’
Roberts’ gold means that climbing, which was introduced in Tokyo in 2021, is the 44th different sport in which Great Britain have won an Olympic medal.
He is only the fifth British teenager to win gold at the Games.
