Toby Roberts

Toby Roberts
Toby Roberts suspended by a rope at the 2022 European Championships
Toby Roberts in 2022
Personal information
NationalityEnglish
Born (2005-03-15) 15 March 2005 (age 19)[1]
EducationEdgeborough School,[2] Surrey
King Edward's School,[3] Surrey
Height177 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Websitetobyroberts.co.uk Edit this at Wikidata
Climbing career
Type of climber
Highest grade
Known for
  • Youngest Briton to redpoint 8a, 8b, and 9a
  • Olympic gold medallist
Medal record
Men's competition climbing
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place Paris 2024 Combined
World Cup
Gold medal – first place Koper 2024 Lead
Gold medal – first place Wujiang 2024 Lead
Gold medal – first place Chamonix 2023 Lead
Gold medal – first place Brixen 2023 Boulder
Bronze medal – third place Prague 2024 Boulder
Bronze medal – third place Chamonix 2024 Lead
Bronze medal – third place Innsbruck 2024 Lead
Bronze medal – third place Salt Lake City 2023 Boulder
Bronze medal – third place Edinburgh 2022 Lead

Toby Roberts (born 15 March 2005) is a British rock climber who specialises in competition climbing and in outdoor sport climbing. He is the youngest British climber to redpoint a 9a (5.14d)-graded sport climbing route. He is the 2024 Olympic champion in sport climbing.

Early life and education

Roberts comes from Elstead, Surrey, the son of Tristian and Marina Roberts.[4]

Roberts attended Edgeborough School, an independent coeducational day preparatory school in Frensham (a village near Farnham) in Surrey, where he was introduced to climbing in 2013,[2] followed by King Edward's School, an independent boarding and day school in Wormley (a village near Witley), also in Surrey.[3]

Climbing career

Rock climbing

In 2015, at only ten years of age, Roberts redpointed the historic 8a (5.13b) graded British sport climbing route, Raindogs, at Malham Cove in North Yorkshire.[5] In 2020, aged 15, Roberts became the youngest British climber to climb a 9a (5.14d) graded sport route when he redpointed Steve McClure's Rainshadow, also at Malham Cove.[5] In 2021, Roberts became the 12th climber to redpoint Ben Moon's historic sport route, Hubble, at Raven Tor (the world's first 8c+-graded route).[6][7]

Competition climbing

Roberts first started competing in international youth competition climbing events in 2019. In 2022, Roberts began his transition towards the international senior competition circuit, winning a bronze medal in lead climbing at the IFSC Climbing World Cup in Edinburgh in September 2022.

In May 2023, Roberts won his first World Cup medal in bouldering with a third-place finish in Salt Lake City. He went on to win his first World Cup gold medal in bouldering with a victory in Brixen in June 2023 followed by his first World Cup gold medal in lead climbing with a victory in Chamonix in July 2023, becoming the first British climber to win a gold medal in both the bouldering and lead climbing disciplines.[8][9] In October 2023, he became the first male British climber–and the second British climber after Shauna Coxsey–to secure a spot in the Olympics for climbing by winning the 2023 European Qualifier in Laval.[10][11]

At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Roberts won a gold medal in the combined bouldering and lead climbing event, becoming the first British climber to win an Olympic medal.[12][13] Subsequently, he finished first overall in the 2024 Lead World Cup series[14] and first overall in the 2024 Lead rankings and Combined rankings.[15]

Rankings

IFSC Climbing World Cup

Discipline 2022 2023 2024
Boulder 4 5
Lead 20 5 1
Combined 1

IFSC Climbing World Championships

Youth

Discipline 2022 Youth A
Boulder 2
Lead 2

Senior

Discipline 2023
Boulder 19
Lead 9
Boulder & Lead 5

Number of medals at the IFSC Climbing World Cup

Lead[16]

Season Gold Silver Bronze Total
2022 1 1
2023 1 1
2024 2 2 4
Total 3 0 3 6

Bouldering[16]

Season Gold Silver Bronze Total
2023 1 1 2
2024 1 1
Total 1 0 2 3

Number of medals at the Summer Olympics

Combined

Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
2024 1 1
Total 1 0 0 1

Notable ascents

Redpointed routes

9a+ (5.15a):

  • Gancho Perfecto – Margalef (Spain) – 2024. Months after winning his Olympic gold medal, Roberts repeated the popular Chris Sharma route, marking his hardest send to date.

9a (5.14d):

  • Batman – Malham Cove (United Kingdom) – 2021. Became the youngest British climber to redpoint a 9a/+-graded route at age 16.[6]
  • Rainshadow – Malham Cove (United Kingdom) – 2020. Became the youngest British climber to redpoint a 9a-graded route at age 15.[6]

8c+ (5.14c):

Other:

  • Revelations 8b (5.13d) – Raven Tor (United Kingdom) – October 2016. Became the youngest British climber to redpoint an 8b-graded route at age 11 by repeating Jerry Moffatt's historic sport climbing route.[17]
  • Raindogs 8a (5.13b) – Malham Cove (United Kingdom) – October 2015. Became the youngest British climber to redpoint an 8a-graded route at age 10 by repeating the historic sport climbing route.[5][18]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Toby Roberts.
  • Will Bosi, British rock and competition climber

References

  1. ^ "Sport Climbing ROBERTS Toby". European Championships Munich 2022. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  2. ^ a b "Toby climbs his way to the top". Farnham Herald. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Climbing Feat". King Edward's School, Witley. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
  4. ^ Peddy, Chris (3 April 2024). "Paris 2024: Team GB's first male Olympic sport climber Toby Roberts has sights on gold". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Sterling, Sarah (9 December 2020). "Toby Roberts becomes youngest Brit to climb 9a". BMC. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d "Toby Roberts repeats Hubble at Raven Tor in England". PlanetMountain.com. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Toby Roberts is Strongest Brit You Probably Haven't Heard Of". Gripped.com. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Britain's teenage sensation Toby Roberts". Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  9. ^ "Gold for Roberts at Lead World Cup Chamonix". services.thebmc.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
  10. ^ "British teenager Roberts seals historic Olympic place". BBC Sport. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  11. ^ Berry, Nathalie (29 October 2023). "Toby Roberts Qualifies for Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Laval". UK Climbing Magazine. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  12. ^ "Teenager Roberts wins climbing gold for Team GB". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Team GB teenager Toby Roberts secures climbing gold at Paris Olympics". Sky News. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  14. ^ Pardy, Aaron (2024-10-11). "Olympic Gold Medalist Sends 5.15a in Spain". Gripped Magazine. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
  15. ^ "Official website of the International Federation of Sport Climbing". www.ifsc-climbing.org. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
  16. ^ a b "Toby Roberts". International Federation of Sport Climbing. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
  17. ^ Berry, Nathalie (1 November 2016). "Revelations 8b by 11 year-old Toby Roberts". UK Climbing Magazine. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  18. ^ Berry, Nathalie (27 October 2015). "Youngest Ascent of Raindogs 8a for 10 year-old Toby Roberts". UK Climbing Magazine. Retrieved 30 October 2023.