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WE ALL KNOW WHO THE OLYMPIC FAVORITES ARE. BUT DON’T COUNT THESE UNDERDOGS OUT


JANJA GARNBRET, SORATO ANRAKU, AND JAKOB SCHUBERT ARE CLEAR CROWD FAVORITES. BUT
THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHERS WHO COULD SNAG GOLD.

Published Aug 6, 2024
Holly Yu Tung Chen
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Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/Getty

Japan's Ai Mori competes in the women's sport climbing boulder semi final during
the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue in Le Bourget on
August 6, 2024. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/Getty

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on
iOS devices for members! Download the app.

As climbing returns to the Olympic stage all eyes are on the crowd favorites who
are most likely to win—or at least podium. Janja Garnbret of Slovenia, whose
name has become synonymous with dominance, is aiming for her second Olympic
Gold. Austrian Jakob Schubert, who took home the bronze medal in the Tokyo
Games, is poised to medal again. But unlike the high-octane world of Speed,
where winners are more easily predicted based on their best run times—men who
have clocked sub-five seconds and women who have clocked sub-seven—the Boulder &
Lead Combined is ever evolving. Myriad factors—routesetting, weather, humidity,
time of competition—ensure that outcomes are never certain. Among the elite
climbers vying for Olympic gold and glory, several rising stars are primed to
swoop in for a surprise upset.


UNDERDOGS IN SPORT CLIMBING AT THE PARIS OLYMPICS

One such competitor is Japan’s Ai Mori, who currently sits first on the IFSC
Lead rankings. Mori made her international debut on the World Cup stage in 2019
and has proven her remarkable versatility time and time again. Mori has 13 World
Cup and World Championship podium finishes, not counting Youth Championships,
with three gold medals in the 2022 season alone. She qualified for an Olympic
ticket during the 2023 World Championships in Bern, Switzerland, where she
placed first in lead and third overall.

Mori is best known for her incredible power, technical prowess, and Herculean
ability to fight the pump. She has also proven herself a tough competitor for
Garnbret in the past, beating her twice in the lead discipline, once in Koper,
Slovenia, in 2022 and once in Bern in 2023, although it’s worth noting that the
Bern win went to countbacks. On the bouldering mats, Mori is no stranger to
finals rounds and has many top 10 finishes. However, she frequently lags behind
the top guns. Standing at just five feet and one inch tall, her height can be
seen as a disadvantage compared to her taller competitors. In the 2024 Innsbruck
World Cup, Mori failed to establish on a jump-start boulder problem that sparked
heated debate among routesetters and competition enthusiasts on whether it was a
technique issue—or if the routesetters unintentionally boxed her out. Luckily,
Mori is also known for her ability to try unconventional beta that favor her
flexibility when others stick to the obvious. Mori has a real fighting chance to
give Garnbret a run for her money.

On the men’s side, a likely candidate to ruffle some feathers is first time
Olympian Jesse Grupper, competing for Team USA. Climbing since age 6 and present
on the IFSC circuit since 2012, Grupper has shown consistently that he can keep
a cool head in high-pressure situations. In his early competition days Grupper
was known for being a lead specialist and, indeed, almost all of his six podium
finishes were in lead alone. However, he is by no means a weak boulderer. In a
conversation with USAC National Routesetter Roy Quanstrom, Quanstrom recalls
watching Grupper dispatch V13s back to back.

Grupper appeared on the Nugget Climbing Podcast and talked about how the turning
point in his competition career came when he acknowledged his weaknesses as a
boulderer: coordination, awkward starts, and slabs. He began training
specifically for it and learned fast. Grupper won gold at the 2023 Pan American
Games in Santiago, Chile, in both Boulder and Lead. That punched his ticket to
Paris. However, after yesterday morning’s slack semi-final bouldering
performance, Grupper will have to fight hard in lead to make it to finals.

The Paris Games is set to showcase an even more electrifying competition than
the Tokyo Games, this time with live audiences, a different format, an increase
in medal winning opportunities and 68 athletes from 22 countries. The reigning
champions and crowd favorites for gold have set a high bar, but the potential of
contenders like Mori and Grupper promises to push climbing into a new sphere.


Holly Yu Tung Chen
Holly Yu Tung Chen is a journalist and routesetter based in Denver, Colorado.
She has written for Climbing, Alpinist, the Climbing Business Journal, and Sharp
End Publishing.


SIMILAR READS

Women’s Lead Semifinal Yields Some Expected Results—and a Major Upset
Olympic Sport Climbing Is Dangerous. But Not How You’d Think
Huge Upsets in Men’s Sport Climbing Lead Semifinal
Was Climbing “Better” Before It Was an Olympic Sport?

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