10 MAY JUN 2020 http://www.climber.co.uk
In what was to be one of the last
international climbing competitions
to be held before the coronavirus
lock-down where numerous
competitions have been cancelled
or postponed across the globe in
response to the ongoing pandemic,
the 2020 CWIF went ahead, albeit
without any spectators.
The two-day event started on
Saturday with the qualifi cation rounds
with many athletes from the TeamGB squad climbing alongside no
less than four confi rmed Olympians.
Pressing home his recent excellent
form, Billy Ridal topped the fi rst
qualifi cation round forcing Alex Megos
(USA) and Jim Pope into second and
third respectively. The fi rst round of
the women’s qualifi cation saw Holly
Toothill topping the standings with
Brooke Raboutou (USA) and Hannah
Slaney coming in second and third
behind.The semi-fi nal rounds were held
on Sunday morning and as ever, the
blocs split the fi eld wide open. However,
the two British Bouldering Champions,
Nathan Philips and Holly Toothill, were
the only athletes in either stream to top
all four blocs; Nathan taking just fi ve
attempts for his four tops whilst Holly
took seven. Yoshiyuki Ogata (JPN)
and Billy Ridal took second and third
respectively whilst the rest of the fi nal
places went to Jim Pope, Jan HojerINDOOR CLIMBER
Molly Thompson-Smith
climbing W4 on her way
to first place. Photo:
Keith Sharples
Webbing technology. Performance-oriented fit. Sender Harness,THOMPSON SMITH AND
OGATA WIN 2020 RAB CWIF
Report by Keith Sharples
Molly Thompson-Smith and Yoshiyuki Ogata took the top spots at
the Rab 2020 Climbing Works International Festival.