Olympics

Sport Climbing: Sorato Anraku Nabs Silver in the Men's Boulder and Lead

At the Le Bourget Climbing Venue, the 17-year-old Chiba Prefecture native became the first Japanese man to earn an Olympic medal in sport climbing.

Published

3 months ago

August 10, 2024

Jack Gallagher

Japan's Sorato Anraku competes in the boulder final of the men's boulder and lead sport climbing event at the Paris Olympics on August 9 in Le Bourget, France. (©Christophe Ena/Pool/via AP)

Japan's Sorato Anraku captured the silver medal in the men's boulder and lead sport climbing final as the last climber in the eight-man competition at the Le Bourget Climbing Venue on Friday, August 9, before a huge audience.

Anraku's silver marks Japan's first Olympic medal by a man in the sport. He was ranked No 1 in the world in both boulder and lead in 2023.

The 17-year-old from Yachiyo, Chiba Prefecture, finished with a total of 145.4 points, just under 10 points behind Britain's Toby Roberts, who took the gold medal at 155.2. Austria's Jakob Schubert earned the bronze on 139.6 in Le Bourget, a northeast suburb of Paris.

Anraku was the leader after the Boulder round with 69.3, but was just fifth in the lead round at 76.1. The 19-year-old Roberts finished third in both boulder (63.1) and lead (92.1) to clinch the title.

"Getting on the podium was my minimum target," Anraku was quoted as saying by Kyodo News. "We were almost tied after boulder and the one who wins the lead was going to win."

Another Sport Climbing Medal for Schubert

Schubert, 33, earned his second straight bronze medal in the event (also known as the men's combined) by vaulting from fifth place after boulder (43.6) with his first-place result in lead (96.0).

Sport climbing first appeared on an Olympic program at the Tokyo Games in 2021, featuring the men's and women's combined events.

In Paris, the men's and women's speed events were added to the Olympic program.

Author: Jack Gallagher

The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.