Molly Thompson-Smith and Will Bosi make Lead finals in Chamonix

Posted by Peter Burnside on 15/07/2019
Molly Thompson-Smith climbs in the finals of the IFSC Lead World Cup in Chamonix. Photo: IFSC / Eddie Fowke

For the first time ever, we saw British athletes compete in both the women’s and men’s final of an IFSC Lead World Cup when the GB Climbing Team headed to the legendary mountain town of Chamonix. With both Molly Thompson-Smith and Will Bosi making it through semis, we were excited to see how they’d do in the finals.

The GB Climbing Team headed to Chamonix for the second round of the IFSC Lead World Cup series. Competing for the GB Climbing Team were Molly Thompson-Smith, Shauna Coxsey, Jo Neame, Emily Phillips and Rhoslyn Frugtnient in the women’s competition, and Will Bosi, Jim Pope, Dave Barrans and Hamish McArthur in the men’s competition. 

The whole team put in excellent performances, but Molly and Will climbed exceptionally well to both earn places in the final, which is the first time British athletes have competed in both the men's and women's final of an IFSC Lead World Cup. 

After a challenging semi-final where, in a surprising turn of events, Janja Garnbret of Slovenia was knocked out of the women’s competition when she slipped from the route and Molly managed to just pip Janja for a place in the final, meaning it was the first Lead World Cup that Janja had ever entered where she wouldn't be competing in the final. However, Molly's place in the final was well-earned and it was an especially incredible performance considering she is still recovering from injury. Shauna Coxsey also qualified for the semi-final and climbed well on the headwall until she fell from a crossover move after a tough headwall section to place in 23rd position.

The final was great to watch again, but a stopper move proved too difficult for all the athletes which meant the top five places came down to countback. Molly came out strong as usual, making her way through the initial section with ease, and climbed up two places to finish in 6th place. Amazingly, Chaehyun Seo of South Korea, who before this lead season started was relatively unknown, took the gold medal after winning silver in Villars last week! Second place in Chamonix went to YueTong Zhang of China, and third was claimed by Jessy Pilz of Austria.

Over in the men’s competition, a challenging semi-finals saw many of the usual names disappointed to miss out on a place in the final. However, Will Bosi put in sterling performance to qualify for the final in Chamonix for the second year running, and was set to climb with superstars Adam Ondra, Alex Megos, and Jakob Schubert.

Will climbed brilliantly to claim 4th place and it’s clear he’s very comfortable in front of a large crowd – while finding a resting position on the wall, he turned to wave to the crowd for more cheers! Alex Megos was first out and climbed steadily, looking like he might top the route until a foot popped and he was suddenly off; his scream upon falling told the full story of his disappointment. Jakob Schubert also made short work of the tricky, steep moves, but just failed to reach Alex’s high point which still had the potential to earn Alex gold. However, Adam Ondra came out strong with his usual fast and confident climbing style and managed to find his way onto the crimps just below the top of the route to take the win. Adam stood on top of the podium, Alex took silver, and Jakob claimed bronze.

We’re sure we’ll see Will compete in many more finals to come and that it won’t be long before we see him fight his way onto the podium.

Will Bosi said: “In my opinion, Chamonix is the best comp of the year with the best/biggest crowd. So I can't even start to describe how happy and excited it made me to compete in the finals again. Same again next year hopefully!”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

What an incredible weekend! The GB Climbing Team did us proud and got some fantastic results in the @ifsclimbing Lead and Speed World Cup in Chamonix 💥🇬🇧 . See below for results: Lead Molly Thompson-Smith - 6th Shauna Coxsey - 23rd Joanna Neame - 37th Emily Phillips - 64th Rhoslyn Frugnient - 75th Will Bosi - 4th Jim Pope - 40th Dave Barrans - 42nd Hamish McArthur - 55th Speed (seconds) Shauna Coxsey - 38th (9.844) Emily Phillips - 52nd (11.523) Molly Thompson-Smith - 63rd (11.523) Will Bosi - 46th (7.254) Dave Barrans - 89th (10.539) . If you didn't manage to catch the competition at the weekend, you can watch the lead final via the link in our bio ⏫ . @duco.life @clifbar @gb_climbing . #gbclimbingteam #ifscwc #proud #ontothenext #psyched #team #competitionclimbing #indoorclimbing #chamonix

A post shared by GB Climbing (@gb_climbing) on

WATCH: The highlights of the IFSC Lead World Cup in Chamonix

Results:

Men’s

1. Adam Ondra (CZE)
2. Alex Megos (GER)
3. Jakob Schubert (AUT)
4. Will Bosi (GBR)
5. Alberto Ginés López (ESP)
6. Martin Stranik (CZE)
7. Sean McColl (CAN)
8. Kai Harada (JPN)

40. Jim Pope (GBR)
42. Dave Barrans (GBR)
55. Hamish McArthur (GBR)

Women’s

1.  Chaehyun Seo (KOR)
2. YueTong Zhang (CHN)
3. Jessy Pilz (AUT)
4. Ai Mori (JPN)
5. Ashima Shiraishi (USA)
6. Molly Thompson-Smith (GBR)
7. Lucka Rakovec (SLO)
8. Natsuki Tanii (JPN)

23. Shauna Coxsey (GBR)
37. Jo Neame (GBR)
64. Emily Phillips (GBR)
75. Rhoslyn Frugtniet  (GBR)


WATCH: We Are GB Climbing

🧗‍♀️ FOLLOW: GB Climbing's Instagram for exclusive photos and results

⛰️ JOIN: Become a BMC member and support GB Climbing

📺 WATCH: GB Climbing YouTube playlist

🐦SCROLL: GB Climbing on X for live updates

👍 LIKE: GB Climbing Facebook for even more news and photos

👀 VISIT: GB Climbing website and see who's on the team

GB Climbing is supported by the BMC, Mountaineering Scotland and Secur-it. Many UK walls also support the GB Climbing team through free or subsidised entry.


« Back

Post a comment Print this article

This article has been read 2567 times

TAGS

Click on the tags to explore more

RELATED ARTICLES

SkiMo Racing Athlete Meet 22 Nov
1
SkiMo Racing Athlete Meet 22 Nov

A virtual meeting will be held on 22 November 2023 to discuss athlete selection and qualification for the 2026 Olympic Games.
Read more »

Meet the BMC Ambassadors
9
Meet the BMC Ambassadors

All sports need role models and climbing and hill walking are no exception, so we’re excited that some of Britain's most well-respected climbers, Britain's well-loved hill walker and access campaigner, have all agreed to be part of our inspiring team of BMC Ambassadors.
Read more »

Olympic tickets at the IFSC Speed EU Qualifier, Rome
0
Olympic tickets at the IFSC Speed EU Qualifier, Rome

GB Climbing athletes will be setting their sights on winning a ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the IFSC Speed European Qualifier in Rome, Italy, on Friday 15 September.
Read more »

Post a Comment

Posting as Anonymous Community Standards
3000 characters remaining
Submit
Your comment has been posted below, click here to view it
Comments are currently on | Turn off comments
0

There are currently no comments, why not add your own?

RELATED ARTICLES

SkiMo Racing Athlete Meet 22 Nov
1

A virtual meeting will be held on 22 November 2023 to discuss athlete selection and qualification for the 2026 Olympic Games.
Read more »

Meet the BMC Ambassadors
9

All sports need role models and climbing and hill walking are no exception, so we’re excited that some of Britain's most well-respected climbers, Britain's well-loved hill walker and access campaigner, have all agreed to be part of our inspiring team of BMC Ambassadors.
Read more »

Olympic tickets at the IFSC Speed EU Qualifier, Rome
0

GB Climbing athletes will be setting their sights on winning a ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the IFSC Speed European Qualifier in Rome, Italy, on Friday 15 September.
Read more »

BMC MEMBERSHIP
Join 82,000 BMC members and support British climbing, walking and mountaineering. Membership only £16.97.
Read more »
BMC SHOP
Great range of guidebooks, DVDs, books, calendars and maps.
All with discounts for members.
Read more »
TRAVEL INSURANCE
Get covered with BMC Insurance. Our five policies take you from the beach to Everest.
Read more »