Olympic Dreams for these USA Climbing Team Members

The USA Climbing sport and speed nationals were this past weekend at the Sportrock Climbing Centers in Alexandria, Virginia.

Margo Hayes, despite not winning a major competition in a few years, took first place and made the USA Climbing Team, along with Brooke Raboutou. For the men, defending champion Sean Baily was the favourite, but finished fourth with first place going to underdog Jesse Grupper.

The national team now has eight climbers,: Galla, Coleman, Ruana, Kyra Condie, Ashima Shiraishi, Hayes and Raboutou. These team members are now eligible to compete at the IFSC world cups, which is where climbers can qualify for the Olympics.

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It’s our pleasure to announce the members of the 2019 U.S Overall National Team! These athletes will represent the United States on the IFSC World Cup circuit. Follow along over the coming months as they begin their journey towards the IFSC World Championships! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ?: @jonglassberg #usaclimbing #teamusa #roadtotokyo

A post shared by USA Climbing (@usaclimbing) on Mar 11, 2019 at 6:22pm PDT

Sport Women/Men Podiums

1. Margo Hayes / Jesse Grupper
2. Ashima Shiraishi / Zander Waller
3. Katherine Lamb / Soloman Barth

Speed Women/Men Podiums

1. Emma Hunt / John Brosler
2. Piper Kelly / Noah Bratschi
3. Sienna Kopf / Joe Goodacre

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This year’s Sport & Speed Open National Championship was the largest Open Nationals event in USA Climbing history with 173 competitors and over 500 spectators. Not only that but the event played a vital part in naming the final members of the US Overall National Team. Congratulations to our new Sport National Champions, @margojain and @yayjesse_g and @jbrosler and @climbing_emma for becoming the Speed National Champions! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Special thanks to @sportrock, the volunteers, competitors, and the community for making this such a special event! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ?: @jonglassberg #climbing #usaclimbing #usacsportspeed

A post shared by USA Climbing (@usaclimbing) on Mar 11, 2019 at 5:59pm PDT