Toby Roberts Explained
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 -graded sport climbing route. He is the 2024 Olympic champion in sport climbing.
Early life and education
Roberts comes from Elstead, Surrey, the son of Tristian and Marina Roberts.[2]
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,[3] followed by King Edward's School, an independent boarding and day school in Wormley (a village near Witley), also in Surrey.[4]
Climbing career
Rock climbing
In 2015, at only ten years of age, Roberts redpointed the historic graded British sport climbing route, Raindogs, at Malham Cove in North Yorkshire. In 2020, aged 15, Roberts became the youngest British climber to climb a graded sport route when he redpointed Steve McClure's Rainshadow, also at Malham Cove. 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).
Competition climbing
Roberts 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.[5] [6] 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.[7] [8]
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.[9] [10] Subsequently, he finished first overall in the 2024 Lead World Cup series[11] and first overall in the 2024 Lead rankings and Combined rankings.[12]
Rankings
IFSC Climbing World Championships
Youth
| Discipline | 2022 Youth A |
|---|
| Boulder | 2 |
| Lead | 2 | |
Senior
| Discipline | 2023 |
|---|
| Boulder | 19 |
| Lead | 9 |
| Boulder & Lead | 5 | |
Number of medals at the IFSC Climbing World Cup
Lead
| Season | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|
| 2022 | | | 1 | 1 |
| 2023 | 1 | | | 1 |
| 2024 | 2 | | 2 | 4 |
| Total | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 | |
Bouldering[13]
| Season | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|
| 2023 | 1 | | 1 | 2 |
| 2024 | | | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
Number of medals at the Summer Olympics
Combined
| Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|
| 2024 | 1 | | | 1 |
| Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
Notable ascents
Redpointed routes
- 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.
- Batman – Malham Cove (United Kingdom) – 2021. Became the youngest British climber to redpoint a 9a/+-graded route at age 16.[14]
- Rainshadow – Malham Cove (United Kingdom) – 2020. Became the youngest British climber to redpoint a 9a-graded route at age 15.[14]
Other:
- Revelations – 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.[16]
- Raindogs – 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.[17] [18]
See also
- Will Bosi, British rock and competition climber
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Sport Climbing ROBERTS Toby . 2023-11-03 . European Championships Munich 2022 . en.
- Web site: Peddy . Chris . Paris 2024: Team GB's first male Olympic sport climber Toby Roberts has sights on gold . . 7 April 2024 . 3 April 2024.
- Web site: Toby climbs his way to the top . 27 July 2016 . Farnham Herald . 30 October 2023.
- Web site: Climbing Feat. King Edward's School, Witley. 17 December 2020. 29 April 2024.
- Web site: Britain's teenage sensation Toby Roberts . 1 November 2023.
- Web site: Gold for Roberts at Lead World Cup Chamonix . 2024-09-17 . services.thebmc.co.uk.
- News: British teenager Roberts seals historic Olympic place . . 29 September 2023 . 30 October 2023 .
- Web site: UK Climbing Magazine . Toby Roberts Qualifies for Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Laval. Nathalie . Berry . 29 October 2023 . 30 October 2023 .
- Web site: Teenager Roberts wins climbing gold for Team GB. BBC Sport. 9 August 2024.
- Web site: Team GB teenager Toby Roberts secures climbing gold at Paris Olympics. Sky News. 9 August 2024.
- Web site: Pardy . Aaron . 2024-10-11 . Olympic Gold Medalist Sends 5.15a in Spain . 2024-10-12 . Gripped Magazine . en-US.
- Web site: Official website of the International Federation of Sport Climbing. . 2024-10-12 . www.ifsc-climbing.org . en.
- Web site: Toby Roberts . 2024-07-02 . International Federation of Sport Climbing.
- Web site: Toby Roberts repeats Hubble at Raven Tor in England . 28 October 2021 . 31 December 2021 . PlanetMountain.com.
- Web site: Gripped.com . Toby Roberts is Strongest Brit You Probably Haven't Heard Of . 28 October 2021 . 31 December 2021.
- Web site: UK Climbing Magazine . Nathalie . Berry . Revelations 8b by 11 year-old Toby Roberts. 1 November 2016 . 30 October 2023 .
- Web site: Toby Roberts becomes youngest Brit to climb 9a . Sarah . Sterling . 9 December 2020 . 30 October 2023 . BMC.
- Web site: UK Climbing Magazine . Nathalie . Berry . Youngest Ascent of Raindogs 8a for 10 year-old Toby Roberts. 27 October 2015 . 30 October 2023 .
