Results From This Weekend’s Speed Comps
And some words about speed comps
In the world of competition climbing (in Canada), speed climbing is not the most popular discipline. In large part, this is because it is really only a competition sport and not a pleasure activity, like bouldering and route climbing. Also, up until recently there were very few walls set with the standard speed route on which to train. However, since it was announced that climbing would be in the 2020 Olympics with the combined format of all three disciplines, speed climbing has spiked in popularity. And speed routes have popped up in gyms across the country.
What’s unclear, as yet, is how much fans and climbers enjoy this discipline. There are some outspoken dissenters on social media, for sure. And some elite athletes, who are Olympic hopefuls, have been outwardly disgruntled about having to train for speed comps. But perhaps it’s just established specialized athletes who aren’t thrilled to learn and train an admittedly drastically different skill set. Maybe new and younger comp climbers just find it part and parcel of the competition scene.
If climbing is once again included in the 2024 Paris Olympics, the proposed format has speed climbing separated into its own medal category. This means climbers with eyes on the Olympics could choose to only compete in bouldering and difficulty. If speed climbing is not required of an athlete to compete at the Olympics, will the interest in it continue to rise? Time will tell.
Latest Speed Comp Results
Three speed comps took place this past weekend. SFU in Burnaby held an event for all categories on Saturday, March 16. Elevation Place in Canmore and Horizon Roc in Montreal held events on Sunday, March 17. See results below.
Horizon Roc in Montreal, QC
Open Men/Women
1. Kiefer Vandenbosc/Sabrina Thayer-Hea
2. Alex Fricker/Nadia Sparrow
3. Maxime Boisvert
Junior Male/Female
1. Nathanael Tremblay/Sophie Valence
2. Olivier Paradis-Roberge/Ève Laprise
3. Zachary Mathieu/Jacqueline Ming-Lafond
Youth A Male/Female
1. Émile Levesque/Aspen Hendry
2. Hugo Valence/Geneviève Phipps
3. Matéo Guitard/Mathilda Austin
Youth B Male/Female
1. Dylan Le/Sophiane Bertrand
2. Adrien Levesque/Léa Latour
3. Antoni Ahélo/Léa Fyrigos
Youth C Male/Female
1. Hugo Frotier/Alexane Royer
2. Jérémie Régnier/Laurence Cassivi-Pelletier
3. Eliott Robert/Ariane Fortin
Youth D Male/Female
1. Louka Boivin/M. Poirier
2. Matviy Voshchykov/Z. Chapman
3. Félix-Anotine Provost/N Duguay
Elevation Place in Canmore, AB
Open Men/Women
1. Ben MacDonald/Alyssa Weber
2. Mate Mackenzie/Jelisa Dunbar
3. Will O’Brien/Lily Trottier
Junior Male
1. Jonah Street
2. Dylan Bokenfohr
3. Ethan Schimpf
Youth A Male/Female
1. Will O’Brien/Lily Trottier
2. Ben MacDonald/Kennedy Moland
3. Tyler White/Patricia Bories
Youth B Male/Female
1. Tj Foley/Tula Sherkat
2. Bryton Kapitza/Siena Mar
3. Louka Gay/Nina Frankish-Beaven
Youth C Male/Female
1. Adam Edwards/Alexa Vanier
2. Lochlan Radstaak/Mia Panrucker
3. Eli Hironaka/Oceane Gelinas
Youth D Male/Female
1. Emmit Decillia/Hillary Tourigny
2. Seth Kozak/Jorja Blumes
3. ____/Julia Marks
SFU in Burnaby, BC
Open Men/Women
1. Brennan Doyle/Brielle Zacharias
2. Eamon Collins/Sydney Hennessey
3. Noah Slotman/Lexi Binder
Junior Male/Female
1. Eamon Collins/Teyha Rogers
2. Noah Slotman/Athena Pimentel
3. Alex White/Manon Mackasey
Youth A Male/Female
1. Brennan Doyle/Brielle Zacharias
2. Kindar McNamee/Sydney Hennessey
3. Guy McNamee/Lexi Binder
Youth B Male/Female
1. Connor Jones/Emi Takashiba
2. Cooper MacDonald/Annabelle McDonald
3. Tanner Hoffman/Hannah Fraser
Youth C Male/Female
1. Nolan Fielding/Alison Timmer
2. Owen McJannet/Hannah Musgrave
3. Nate Corsi/Caiya Taylor-Ainslie
Youth D Male/Female
1. Bruce Kong/Avery MacDonald
2. Noah Schwartz/Sienna Chow
3. ____/Maisie Ainslie
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