By Hiroki Noda,
Japanese 17-year-old Sorato Anraku had Olympic glory within reach in Paris but fell just short, leaving Briton Toby Roberts to win sport climbing boulder and lead gold on Friday.
Olympic debutant Anraku claimed silver with a total of 145.4 points, behind 19-year-old Roberts' 155.2, with Jakob Schubert of Austria third on 139.6.
Anraku was the last lead climber in the eight-man final after topping the boulder phase earlier in the day with a score of 69.3, ahead of American Colin Duffy's 68.3 and Roberts' 63.1.
The pressure of outscoring his closest rivals and fatigue built up as he made his way toward the top of the approximately 15-meter-high wall.
When he fell, he did not know what place he had finished.
"Getting on the podium was my minimum target," said Anraku. "We were almost tied after boulder and the one who wins the lead was going to win...I wanted to capture gold, so I'm disappointed."
"I was a little bit tired after the boulder phase, but I could've done better in the lead section. I couldn't get my body moving smoothly."
Anraku, the 2023 World Cup rankings leader in both boulder and lead, fell with gold just a few holds away in the lead discipline, scoring 76.1 after Roberts posted 92.1. Consistency proved key for Roberts, who finished third in both boulder and lead to win gold at his first Olympics.
"The (lead) route was really good, I really enjoyed it -- really 'endurancy'," Roberts said. "There was not a specifically hard part, which is my kind of route, where I can really put in a good fight. I was definitely nervous before my lead route, so I'm glad I was able to calm down and put in a good performance."
On watching Anraku climbing in pursuit of gold, Roberts said, "At that point, I already knew I had won (at least) the silver medal, so I was really happy anyway just watching him. Then to realize that I had just become Olympic champion, I was just, wow, no words."
The medal is Japan's third in sport climbing at the Olympics, coming after Miho Nonaka won women's combined silver at the Tokyo Games ahead of Akiyo Noguchi who earned bronze.
Ai Mori will attempt to win Japan's first gold in the sport in the women's boulder and lead final scheduled for Saturday. Sport climbing made its Olympic debut in Tokyo three years ago.
Related coverage:
Olympics: Japanese climbing star Nonaka misses final, Mori advances
Olympics: Narasaki slips up in men's climbing, Anraku top after semis
