Olympic Tickets Up for Grabs at Pan American Games This Week

The 2023 Pan American Games are currently underway in Santiago, Chile. Running from October 20 to November 5, the Games include a diverse range of sports, from badminton and boxing to skateboarding and softball. This year, Sport Climbing is also included in the Games, with two Olympic-format categories: Speed and Boulder & Lead Combined. At these Pan American Games, climbers are competing not just for medals but also for Olympic quota places for Paris 2024. Four quota places are up for grabs, one for each gender category in each discipline.

In the Speed comp this weekend, Team USA athletes Piper Kelly and Samuel Watson earned gold and tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics. In women’s, American Emma Hunt won silver and Andrea Rojas of Ecuador earned bronze. In men’s, American Noah Bratschi won silver and Canadian Ethan Flynn-Pitcher won bronze.

Climbers from the United States and Canada dominated the Boulder & Lead Combined semi-finals. Americans Jesse Grupper, Sean Bailey, Zach Galla, Brooke Raboutou, Natalia Grossman, and Annie Sanders are moving on to the finals, as are Canadians Sean McColl, Oscar and Victor Baudrand, Alannah Yip, Indiana Chapman, and Rebecca Frangos.

In the men’s semi-final, Grupper placed first, Bailey second, and McColl third. “I haven’t done a Lead performance in a long time, so I wanted to prove myself that I could have a good Lead result as well,” said Oscar Baudrand about his fourth place semi-final finish. “I was feeling good on the route, I just made a little mistake on one of the hard moves at the top, but I felt like I had a lot more to give on the wall. My expectations and goals are different, it was my expectation to make final, but my goal is to make it to the podium.”

In the women’s semi-final, Raboutou placed first, Grossman second, and Yip third. “I tried not to have expectations going into the round, my goal was solely to make the final, because I know that excluding countback the results of the semi-final don’t count, and it’s hard to tie in this format,” said Yip after the semi-finals. “I focused on enjoying myself, enjoying all the boulders, climbing free, finding the flow on the route, and I was able to do all those things and I’m very happy.”

Men’s Semi-Final Results

1. Jesse Grupper (USA)
2. Sean Bailey (USA)
3. Sean McColl (CAN)
4. Oscar Baudrand (CAN)
5. Zach Galla (USA)
6. Victor Baudrand (CAN)
7. Benjamin Vargas (CHI)
8. Thor Villegas (MEX)

Women’s Semi-Final Results

1. Brooke Raboutou (USA)
2. Natalia Grossman (USA)
3. Alannah Yip (CAN)
4. Annie Sanders (USA)
5. Alejandra Contreras (CHI)
6. Indiana Chapman (CAN)
7. Valentina Aguado (ARG)
8. Rebecca Frangos (CAN)

How and When to Watch the Finals

Men’s Boulder Final: Monday October 23 – 5:05pm ET (2:05pm PT)
Men’s Lead Final: Monday October 23 – 7:12pm ET (4:12pm PT)
Women’s Boulder Final: Tuesday October 24 – 5:05pm ET (2:05pm PT)
Women’s Lead Final: Tuesday October 24 – 7:12pm ET (4:12pm PT)

The men’s and women’s finals are being livestreamed for free online on the Panam Sports Channel.

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