GB Climbing’s Shauna Coxsey claims bronze at the IFSC World Championships in Hachioji, Japan. The third-place finish puts her in a strong position for Olympic qualification which will be decided early next week.
Britain’s greatest-ever competition climber claimed the bronze medal in the bouldering discipline at the IFSC World Championships in Hachioji, Japan.
This is her first ever World Championship medal, having missed the last two events through injury and finishing fourth at Munich in 2014. It is also the first time a British woman climber has secured a medal at a Climbing World Championships.
Shauna finished behind Akiyo Noguchi of Japan and Janja Garnbret of Slovenia who took her second World Championship title in as many years and cemented her reputation as the dominant force in female climbing.
The result was even more impressive as Coxsey, 26 from Runcorn but based in Sheffield completed the entire competition with a heavy cold.
Coxsey faced an anxious wait in the semi-finals to confirm whether she had even secured a spot in the Finals but once she stepped out onto the mats, Shauna grasped the opportunity with both hands.
Shauna topped the first of four boulder ‘problems’, which need to be completed within four minutes in a final, to put her in the medal positions early on in the competition.
However, she slid down the rankings as she struggled to complete the complex moves of the second and third problems, meaning that the podium places would not be decided until the final problem.
Coxsey did all she could by topping it with her first attempt (referred to as a ‘flash’) and placed the pressure onto other climbers to match her score and ultimately it secured her the bronze medal position.
Bouldering is Shauna’s strongest of the three climbing disciplines that will feature at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, winning the 2016 and 2017 overall IFSC Bouldering titles.
Climbers hoping to qualify for the Olympics at the World Championships need to compete in individual Boulder, Lead and Speed events followed by a full Combined competition where she would need to finish in the top seven to book her ticket for Tokyo 2020.
There is no time to rest for Shauna as she is back in action again tomorrow with the Lead qualification rounds and will be joined by fellow GB climbers Molly Thompson-Smith, Will Bosi, Jo Neame and Billy Ridal.
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