Comeback Queen Megan Lynch First Into Finals
Incredible competition in the women's category leads many to wonder who will top the results in this evening's final event
The Salt Lake City Boulder semi-final concluded this afternoon. After several days of competition, many of the athletes began to fatigue from climbing previous events. Still, some rose above to secure their spot for finals.
The women’s round began with a simple, powerful W1. The punchy boulder problem stood athletes up on a sloping volume, with a small, in-cut under-cling for a right hand. Generating, competitors caught the left start hold and began the climb. Immediately athletes had to match the left hand or continue straight into the in-cut dish a foot and a half higher.\
Like the athletes that came before her, Maya Madere struggled to match the starting left hand. On her third attempt, she caught the grip, held the swing and campused up to the flat edge above her head. Continuing, She campused again, and secured Zone. Established, Madere moved to place her right foot on the left start. She completed a powerful move to a bad sloping dish and jumped to a round volume. Matching, she earned her Top.
Moving onto W2, Madere faltered on the dual textured volumes. Little screw-ons provided some friction, but the slick surface appeared disconcerting. Madere could not find comfort on the screw-ons’ slim surfaces, and fell trying to jump for Zone. Just as she went to jump, her foot pinged, and she fell to the mats. Madere geared up for another attempt.
Moving with greater confidence through the bottom, she jumped, caught, and swung well through the Zone and onto the subsequent volume. Levering a heel on the far side of the box, she perched on her foot. Coming into a small gib on Zone-side of the relatively flush feature, she stood into the Top. Pressing through her shoulder, Madere found the gib, reshuffled her feet and matched with a minute left on the clock.
Despite her strong effort through the first two problems, Mader hit W3 in much the same way as the rest of the field. The physical boulder problem asked athletes to campus through a challenging first sequence before pulling over into a flat volume. Many would fall on the campus. Few would attain Zone. Even fewer would Top.
While Emily Herdic became first to Top W3, she was unable to Top the previous two boulders and ultimately earned ninth position. Although Madere had climbed a strong run, Megan Lynch became the first athlete from the lower half of the field to establish a clear-cut dominance over the competition.
Despite qualifying for semis in twelth, Lynch appeared to repeat her Lead result by absolutely annihilating semis. Attaining Zone on her flash attempt, it took Lynch three tries to earn her Top of W3. She and Herdic became the only women to complete the extremely physical problem. On attaining Zone, Lynch wrestled the final larger grips, swinging wide on a torpedo-like hold. Pulling back into the wall, she pressed her way to the top of the route.
Lynch cemented her Lead with an easy flash of W4. This comparatively simple problem climbed large grips and appeared to lean more on coordination than physical difficulty. Most of the field topped this climb.
Although no one else in the top six Topped W3, they each climbed W1,W2, and W4. Madere’s performance showed great resilience in qualifying so low, and with further rest, she could become a strong contender for podium in finals.
As it stands, most everyone heading into finals has a legitimate chance at securing a place on the podium. Four of the six athletes heading into the event earned a ticket to lead finals just this last weekend. This shows the consistency of the field in certain terms.
Quinn Mason and Melina Costanza, appear most ready to usurp Lynch in the coming round. While Bouldering does surround itself around Tops, tight fields often come down to attempts. Mason and Costanza flashed all three boulders that they climbed. If it is hard final, Lynch may have the edge, but otherwise, it could become a game of precision.
The greatest take away from this semi-final and the previous lead rounds comes in the form of skill between disciplines. It appears many of the USA’s top athletes have oriented themselves to be competitive in both Lead and Boulder ahead of the 2024 Olympics.
Women Advancing to Finals
1 – Megan Lynch
2 – Melina Costanza
3 – Quinn Mason
4 – Adriene Clark
5 – Kylie Cullen
6 – Maya Madere
Featured image of Maya Madere by Quinn Mason
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