How Hard Have Paris Olympians Climbed on Rock?
The group competing in Paris aren't just the best on plastic, they're also some of the best on rock

The twenty men and twenty women competing in the Paris Olympics Boulder & Lead event next week are obviously some of the best comp climbers in the world. What many people don’t realize is that they’re also some of the best rock climbers in the world. Many in the group have performed at the very highest levels of outdoor bouldering, sport climbing, and/or trad.
Below, we overview some of the top rock climbing accomplishments of a selection of the arguably best outdoor climbers in the group of Paris Boulder & Lead Olympians. These lists of accomplishments are not intended to be exhaustive but rather are aimed at showcasing some of biggest outdoor sends of these Olympic athletes. We focus on seven athletes in each gender category, although many more have spent lots of time outside on rock.
Some of these names listed below are obvious – Adam Ondra, Alex Megos, Jakob Schubert, Laura Rogora – while others (and their accomplishments) may surprise you. What’s surprising (but perhaps maybe not) is that many of the highest ranked comp climbers are also the ones with the most impressive outdoor sends.
A few of the favourites in Paris are not included in the list, with Sorato Anraku being one obvious example. These climbers simply don’t have extensive rock climbing résumés (yet). But you can guarantee if they ever do eventually spend some time on the rock, they’ll quickly be performing at the top end of the sport.

Adam Ondra (CZE)
- Silence 5.15d FA
- Change 5.15c FA
- La Dura Dura 5.15c FA
- Vasil Vasil 5.15c FA
- Zvěřinec 5.15c FA
- Over 20 5.15b’s
- Bon Voyage 5.14d (trad)
- Dawn Wall 5.14d (big wall, second ascent)
- Supercrackinette 5.15a (flash)
- Four onsights and two flashes of 5.14d
- V16 FAs: Terranova, Ledoborec, Brutal Rider
- Gioia V16
Jakob Schubert (AUT)
- B.I.G. 5.15d FA
- Perfecto Mundo 5.15c
- Multiple 5.15b’s, including FAs
- Alphane V17
- Multiple V15s, including La Force Tranquille Direct FA
Alex Megos (GER)
- Bibliographie 5.15c FA
- Perfecto Mundo 5.15c FA
- Multiple 5.15b’s, including FAs
- Estado Critico 5.14d (Onsight)
- Multiple V15s, including Upgrade U FA

Colin Duffy (USA)
- Two 5.14d redpoints
- Bookkeeping V16
- Many V14s
Yannick Flohé (GER)
- Lazarus 5.15a
- Return of the Dreamtime V16 FA
- Off the Wagon Low V16
- Ephyra V16
- Multiple V15s and V14s
Jesse Grupper (USA)
- Full Metal Brisket 5.15a
- Pure Imagination 5.14c (Flash)
- Livin’ Astro 5.14c (Flash)
Tomoa Narasaki (JPN)
- Ashurado V15 (FA)
- Asagimadara V15
- Gakido V14 (Flash)
- Decided V14 (Flash)

Janja Garnbret (SLO)
- Seleccio Natural 5.14d
- La Fabela por la Enmienda 5.14d
- Bügeleisen Sit V15 FFA
- Bügeleisen V14
- New Base Line V14
- Fontainebleau ‘Big 5’ in a day
Brooke Raboutou (USA)
- Box Therapy V15
- Muscle Car V14
- Jade V14
- Trieste Stand V14
- Iur V14
- The Traphouse V13/V14
- Many V13s
- 5.14b redpoint (at age 11)
Natalia Grossman (USA)
- Lucifer 5.14c
- Southern Smoke 5.14c
- Multiple V13s
Oriane Bertone (FRA)
- Panonoramix et les Cyclopes 5.14c FA
- Chykungunya 5.14c
- Satan i Helvete V14 FA
- Super Tanker V14
- Golden Shadow V14
- La Spartiate Direct Assis V13 (FA)
- Many V13s

Laura Rogora (ITA)
- Ali Hulk 5.15b
- Erebor 5.15b (FFA)
- Pure Dreaming Plus 5.15a
- Terapia d’urto 5.15a
- Lapsus 5.15a (FFA)
- Multiple 5.14d and 5.14c routes
Chaehyun Seo (KOR)
- La Rambla 5.15a
- Bad Girl’s Club 5.14d
- L’atangonista 5.14b (Onsight)
Jessica Pilz (AUT)
- Five 5.14c redpoints
- Twelve 5.14b sends
Other notable mentions
- Sam Avezou (FRA) topped The Big Island V15
- Toby Roberts (GBR) has climbed several 5.14d routes
- Ai Mori (JPN) redpointed Catharsis V14
- Miho Nonaka (JPN) has sent V13 and 5.14c
- Camilla Moroni (ITA) has climbed multiple V13s, including Traphouse V13/14
- Molly Thompson-Smith (GBR) has sent multiple V13s and 5.14b’s
See here for the full list of climbers participating in the Boulder & Lead event at the Paris Olympics. See here for details on how and when to watch climbing at the Summer Games
