The opening event of the 2024 Olympic Qualifier Series takes place in Shanghai, China, from 16 to 19 May, with 160 climbers participating. Here is what they had to say throughout the event:

19/04 – WOMEN’S BOULDER & LEAD FINAL

Brooke RABOUTOU (USA), first with 140.9 points:

“I have been working really, really hard. I have big goals and dreams and I was really proud of the climbing I put in today. I still feel like I have more to give which is exciting.

“I really just climbed for myself which is when I climb my best. I was able to get in a really good mindset and enjoy myself but with determination. It felt really good to try really hard and show what I am capable of.

“I went through some really hard times and I learned so much from them. Honestly, I am grateful for them because I feel like they are making me stronger today, both physically and especially mentally. Nobody wants the hard times and the challenging times, but that’s just part of my path and journey. So, I am proud of what I am doing.

“Nerves are always there for sure. I don’t know the day that they won’t be, but I was really climbing for myself which just does release those nerves. Viewing it all as opportunity.

“The crowd was really incredible. I love to celebrate when it feels good. I am not someone that celebrates when I am not happy I guess. I show my emotions as they are. Today it was all very genuine and authentic and it was really great to have the support of the crowd. It was fun to share those moments with them.

“I think about Paris all the time, but I am taking it day by day. This was an incredible step and I’ll celebrate the victory and get back to work.

“My family brings me all power. I have an incredible family and it’s so cool that we can share our passions and really learn from each other. It doesn’t feel like pressure. It has before but very minimal.”

SEO Chaehyun (KOR), second with 134.3 points:

“It’s a good day for Korea, I think so. I was encouraged by my teammate Lee, I enjoyed watching the video of his final with him. I have courage now for the next stage.

“I wanted to top the Lead route like Dohyun, but it’s a pity for me. I felt quite great on the wall. I was comfortable before the fall but I felt like I was a little bit stuck on the route. It was hard but I had quite a lot of fun.

“I always liked looking at Kim Jain. I was a really big fan of hers at a young age. I always respected her and now we train together a lot and cheer for each other. She is a good partner for me.”

Erin MCNEICE (GBR), third with 127.8 points:

“I was bib number 36, so I managed to bump off a little bit.

“If you had told me a year ago that I would be on the podium at the OQS, I would have said that you were lying. I would definitely not have believed you. It feels so crazy to be on this stage and feel competent. The China World Cups last month showed me that I have the ability to be comfortable and this has just reinforced that.

“There was definitely a mindset shift in the off-season. It works for me a lot better than what I was doing before. Also, the off-season was sort of miserable in a way. It was seven to nine hours a day working on what I needed to, but it has paid off well. I worked a lot on my Climbing, but also a lot of gym work. I wasn’t strong enough and it takes a long time and a lot of hours to improve that sort of stuff.

“There were times where, it’s embarrassing, but where I just broke down in training sessions. My family had to get me through that. It was just being miserable at times. I think, that time as well, I didn’t truly believe that I could make it to this. But now that I have the belief, it’ll be a lot easier.

“I think the aim was always to get into the top 10 for this, throughout the winter. But now I would love to get a World Cup podium and stuff like that.

“I think my family were joking about me getting my first international medal here in Shanghai, because I never got an international medal, even in youth. It’s ridiculous that my first one is here.

“I feel like I haven’t even scratched the surface in training, so it’s so exciting to see what my peak would be.”

19/04 – MEN’S BOULDER & LEAD FINAL

LEE Dohyun (KOR), first with 134.5 points:

“Even though the Boulder results weren’t great, I wasn’t that affected. I was still confident in Lead because Lead is my main event. I just wanted to do what I could do but I didn’t believe I could top it. I didn’t feel any pressure but I was surprised to top the route.

“I am not very expressive, I am very calm normally but today I was emotional. I trained a lot for this and I realised what it meant. It is the main reason why I am climbing: in Korea Climbing is not that big so this will tell many people about climbing.

“The trophy is very heavy. It’s like 10 kg, it’s a good weight for climbers to train with.”

Alberto GINÉS LÓPEZ (ESP), second with 124.5 points:

“I found the flow of the route perfectly. I had this feeling like I would never fall. I just missed 15 more moves really. I could have just carried on. But the Boulder phase was hard. I was super angry when I came back to isolation, I felt like I wasn’t able to fight at all on any boulder.

“After Tokyo 2020 I didn’t perform as good as I would like. I feel like after Tokyo for a few years I didn’t get as focused as before Tokyo, now I am finally back. For Tokyo we had to focus a lot, to suffer a lot with COVID and everything and after that my mind was done. Of course some partying too didn’t help. But after Bern 2023, last year, I thought ‘Okay, if I want to go to Paris I need to focus’. Then everything changed and I started to perform again.

“Dohyun has improved a lot in Lead. He has for the last two years improved a lot on Boulder too. I remember meeting him for the first time in 2016. We met each other playing table tennis in our first Youth World Championships, with the Korean team. Surprisingly, the Spanish team was better than the Korean team. We didn’t expect that. But it was a tough game. Being able to compete with him this close is amazing. We are good friends, even if the language is a barrier. He is such a nice climber and super strong and such a nice guy.

“Adam is one of the best-ever competitive climbers, maybe he would be competing for that title with Jakob Schubert. When I was a kid I was watching Adam’s videos. I have such big respect for him. I don’t like to think I was beating him on Sunday, we were competing and today I was better in Lead.”

Adam ONDRA (CZE), third with 124.1 points:

“I’m pretty happy. The duty I was supposed to do, I did it, I have a really good chance to qualify. I can climb in one month in Budapest with much less stress. I am really happy with the Boulder, but I am extremely unhappy with my Lead Climbing. This was definitely the worst days of Lead in my career. So I have quite a lot of time still to reflect on that and to hopefully improve my Lead Climbing during the next month and two months, to get to the Olympics.

“I was disappointed in the previous two days as well, but maybe I wasn’t climbing my best. I think I was climbing alright today, technically, but I felt like fitness wasn’t there. I need to improve that. I was just feeling too tired to continue. I was hoping to climb a little bit higher. It’s not that painful but you really want to continue and you have nothing left in your forearms.

“I am really pleased with my Boulder performance. There’s many, many weaknesses I was able to improve and it really shows in the comps. I am also proud I was able to keep my head down and even though the two tops I did were really on the limit I was able to deliver. I am pretty happy with all the Boulder rounds I did on this competition. That gives me good confidence for the Olympics.

“It would be amazing to have a medal from the Olympics but I know it’s really hard. Being in the shape I am right now, I literally have no chance. Definitely need to be better for Paris. Sport Climbing is changing so much it makes me a little disappointed the Olympics did not exist in climbing 10 years ago! I think I would have had a much better chance.

“Lee has been competing really well on the Boulder circuit for a few years now, and he’s an exceptional climber. But I was really impressed by his endurance and capability to be able to rest on the very, very tiny holds in Lead, which is something I didn’t really expect from him. He is a really, really strong contender for the Olympic medal in my eyes.

“Alberto is really, really in a good shape and it’s cool to see. I think that will make it really exciting to watch in the Olympics. I am confident that both him and Lee Dohyun will qualify. We all three have a really, really good chance.

“This event was a great show. A way to respect Climbing, to have such a nice venue in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world. It’s pretty cool.”

18/04 – WOMEN’S SPEED FINAL

ZHOU Yafei (CHN), first:

“I just performed like myself. I performed the way I do normally. I tried to focus on every single climb, on every single run I had to do today. I did feel nervous, yes, but I tried to block out the noise that came from the spectators. I felt I just had to focus on myself. I just thought about the action, about the things I had to do.

“This was not the best level of competition, because some athletes were not here. It felt like the second level. The level could be even higher."

Rajiah SALLSABILLAH (INA), second:

“My performance overall has been pretty good. But I feel that I can improve a little bit more. I feel that this qualification was quite tense for me. Hopefully, the next qualification will be better. The competitors in this qualifying competition are all very good, strong. That’s why I feel the pressure. The next competition in Budapest I will try even harder.

“I just focused on feeling confident that I can do anything. Knowing that I could do very well was on top of my mind. I usually talk to myself during a competition, just to try and feel confident. I also felt a lot of support from the team. I feel the energy from the Indonesians. I tell myself ‘Focus, relax. You can do it.’”

Natalia KALUCKA (POL), third:

“I am really happy because this competition was very hard for me. The pressure was very high and I did my best time this year. I am really proud of myself.cMy physical condition is bad. I am very tired. The competition was very hard for me. This year has been very hard for me. Sometimes I feel weak, no energy in my body. In my life my physical and mental shape is very important. This year I have had very good mental strength but sometimes I feel weak during my training.”

“This is a very hard situation for us because I am so happy, and she is very sad. To be honest this year she was faster than me. The pressure was very hard for her. But I guess in the future, in the second qualification event, she will show her best. Sport is sometimes very brutal for athletes. My family is the most important thing and my sister is very important for me. She gives me power in the competition.”

18/04 – MEN’S SPEED FINAL

Veddriq LEONARDO (INA), first:

“I am happy. I have to qualify, so this is like the first step. In Speed, even though you did well in practice, it doesn’t guarantee you a good result in competition.

“I am competing among the best competitors and the best athletes in the world. The more good athletes there are in Speed Climbing, the better it is for the sport. I only focus on myself and my performance.

“I have a very good relationship with the rest of the Indonesian team. We are like family. We train together. In this competition each of us tries to do our best and it’s our responsibility to bring the country’s name to the world level. Competing against each other is not a problem.

“What we focus on is to bring Indonesia’s name to the world level and we focus on making Indonesia better in Paris. It’s very exciting because at Tokyo 2020 there was only the Combined, so Indonesia had no chance to get an Olympic medal.

“It is not only to compete for the sake of the competition, it is also my responsibility as an Indonesian to bring Indonesia into the Olympics and bring a gold medal. And to tell everyone Indonesia is friendly, kind and fun. It would be really good for Indonesia.

“We have a big number of Speed climbers. Speed Climbing doesn’t need a lot of big facilities and it is very easy to set up. And we also have an inspirational figure like Aspar Aspar, who has been in the field so long and still doing it.”

WU Peng (CHN), second:

“My body condition is not as good as yesterday, during qualification. I don’t know why. I just feel a bit tired. I thought I could climb faster, I didn’t perform as I wanted. It makes me a little bit frustrated.

“Veddriq is calm and he is competitive. And he is very self-disciplined and works very hard in training. I am a little bit afraid of the battle, I want to win.”

18/04 – MEN’S BOULDER & LEAD SEMI-FINAL

Sascha LEHMANN (SUI), fourth with 113.3 points:

“It was really nice out there. I didn’t have a good Boulder run. In the morning it was quite tough for me, a struggle to get those boulders together and top them out.

“For sure there was pressure on my Lead climb. I was pretty nervous. I knew Lead is my discipline, that’s where I want to make the points. I am really happy how it turned out, it was such a good run.

“I knew before the competition that I might not get that many points in Boulder. Of course, I tried my best and even better if it works out well, but I prepared myself to keep on going. I know my Lead shape is good. I know I am a good Lead climber and just tried to keep believing in my lead strengths and put this on the wall.

“You need to have the shape, you need to be able to shake out at some points and just put on a big fight. Happy to see that my shape was good enough to fight up there. It often happens that I do the first few moves that are a bit sketchy and a bit shaky, so it’s not super proper, and then I find my rhythm.

“In final I find it always a bit easier. You’ve done a great job already in the competition. You know you’ve got your strengths. Now it can just get better. The worst place you get is eighth and that’s not too bad, it is somewhere around this Olympic spot. Of course there is a second event coming. It’s about just trying to get some more points and have fun.

“I know my family and my girlfriend stayed up in the night to watch the Boulder phase. It’s so cool to see all the people back in Switzerland following my journey.”

Sam AVEZOU (FRA), eighth with 99.8 points:

“I feel super relieved. Two minutes ago I was between eighth and ninth place, so the most stressful spot. I am relieved to have a chance tomorrow to have a good run. I am heading to the finals, I am happy now.

“I have never had such pressure before. It’s super hard to climb in these conditions. You can’t be relaxed. You are super shaky. It’s terrible to fight against my teammates. It was a terrible experience but we have to go through it. A little bit of weight is off, but not much. With three French people going for two spots, it’s the worst. I have a lot of people wanting me to go to Paris but I just have to show my best.

“I don’t think my mother can help me with this. It’s pretty much impossible to keep us calm. She can’t do much. She can’t do much for the shaky climbing.”

18/04 – WOMEN’S BOULDER & LEAD SEMI-FINAL

Brooke RABOUTOU (USA), second with 135.9 points:

“I felt really good in Boulder. I was finally able to let loose and really feel like myself out there and have a blast. It was awesome.

“I feel like I am in really good Lead shape and haven’t been able to show it yet. The nature of the routes are really hard to rest. So, I am just learning that. But I am excited to have another opportunity to really show what I’ve been working on. I am just excited to get to climb again.”

Zélia AVEZOU (FRA), seventh with 104.7 points:

“I am very happy how I climbed in Boulder. I climbed like I used to. Even though it is a competition with a lot of pressure, I still had a really good climb so I am proud of this. In Lead I am less happy because I am too stressed to climb as I should. The pressure to qualify for the Olympics is too hard for me right now.

“It’s definitely very stressful for French climbers. We talked about it yesterday, as a group and as individuals too. In the French Federation, the Olympics are everything, for about three years now. So, we have the pressure we put on ourselves, and the pressure from the Federation that wants us to succeed – not in a bad way, but it’s hard. Also, every time you cross the path of someone and you tell them you are an athlete they say, ‘Oh, go for the Olympics!’. Little by little the pressure grows.

“With Sam we don’t talk about it too much, I would say. You have to think about Climbing more than the Olympics. But we would definitely enjoy to go there together. If only one of us qualifies the other one would be super, super happy because we know all the work we have put in the last year. But I would be very sad if I go to Paris and Sam doesn’t.”

17/04 – WOMEN’S SPEED QUALIFICATION

Aleksandra KALUCKA (POL), first with 6.55 seconds:

“Honestly, before the qualifications I started believing in my experience. I tried to know that I am experienced, I was so excited to compete. I knew that my body was prepared so well to compete and I wanted to feel the speed again and the adrenaline again. I am so happy that I competed under pressure and everything, and now I am so excited to compete tomorrow in the final.

“The qualification runs are the hardest runs for me and now it is going to be easier. The first run was so terrible for me because of the pressure. But the second run was just, ‘Let’s run’. Not thinking nothing about nothing.

“I was prepared to run faster. I think tomorrow I will be much faster but we will see. Today, that wasn’t my max.

“Yesterday I had a day off and it was so pleasant to spend free time, go to the coffee shop like a normal girl. It was an awesome day and now I am so happy.”

Capucine VIGLIONE (FRA), third with 6.68 seconds:

“Good. Confident. It was good to do a first run that good. On the second run I was just trying to stay safe. I made a mistake at the beginning because I was focused on not doing a false start, so I was not focused on what I should have been doing after that.

“My personal best was 6.71, so it’s not really a big step from 6.71 to 6.68. It’s the same for me but I am still happy because I wasn’t sure before the competition that I was able to do this.

“We have had a long time without competition. It’s hard for me in training, I am not at my best. I try everything but I can’t climb as fast as I do in competition. It’s really important for me to have competitions to see what I can do. I need that adrenaline. It’s the atmosphere. Two weeks ago we tried recreating a full competition in a training camp and it didn’t work at all. My best time was 7.70.”

Manon LEBON (FRA), 14^th with 7.16 seconds:

“I am very happy, this is my first international competition this season, and it is cool to be in the final. I am happy with my performance. I was a little bit nervous before the start of the competition, but after practice I was okay. I can’t wait to compete in the final tomorrow, in this beautiful place and in front of all these people.”

17/04 – MEN’S SPEED QUALIFICATION

Veddriq LEONARDO (INA), second with 4.95 seconds:

“I feel so excited because this is our last chance to go to the Olympic finals. I am focused on the podium. It is a little bit different from other competitions. I feel like I am flying. Pretty fast. But so many climbers are fast. I need to be more consistent in every run.

“If you make a mistake, it means everything is gone, all your training, everything. No second chance. That is the risk of speed.

“Maybe in the Indonesian team we have an advantage with our posture. We are very agile. And we train together in the same base. So, it’s a very competitive environment. We push each other to go faster.”

Zach HAMMER (USA), 10^th with 5.17 seconds:

“I was really just trying to treat that as any other competition because that’s what it is. I was having fun and that’s when I climb my best. In qualifications whenever you have a good first lap it just really takes the pressure off the second lap. So, I was really just trying to enjoy the second lap. It is the same thing I do every day in training, so I try to have that mindset of ‘I have done this a thousand times’.

“It is kind of fun. I like racing Chinese and Indonesian climbers. They are very fast. It helps push you. I think I can beat them.

“John Brosler and I live in Salt Lake City together and Noah Bratschi has been in Salt Lake City for the past month training with us. I have not talked to them a ton but it is always rough when you do not have a good competition. It is rough when your teammates do not do well, I want them to do well. But it’s not over, There is still another competition in Budapest.”

Yaroslav TKACH (UKR), 13^th with 5.26 seconds:

• “Physically and mentally, I feel good, in perfect condition. The most difficult part was to get into the top 16, after that you just need to do clean rounds in the final. The wall is super good, very fast, a lot of athletes made their personal bests today.”*

17/04 – WOMEN’S BOULDER & LEAD QUALIFICATION: LEAD

Camilla MORONI (ITA), fifth with 135.7 points:

“The route was quite hard for me; I didn’t feel as good as yesterday and I got pumped very soon. I was stressed yesterday, then after Boulder qualification I was a bit more relaxed, but in general it’s very stressful. In fact, I think that mental preparation can play a big role in the event.”

17/04 – MEN’S BOULDER & LEAD QUALIFICATION: LEAD

Hannes VAN DUYSEN (BEL), seventh with 124.5 points:

“The Lead round was pure endurance, with only crimps on the wall. I kind of liked it, it was fun to climb it. When I fell, I hesitated a little bit because my focus was not good, but I think I had something left in me to climb some more.”

16/04 – WOMEN’S BOULDER & LEAD QUALIFICATION: BOULDER

Valentina AGUADO (ARG), 32^nd with 44.3 points:

“I think I could have done some things a little bit different, maybe have another top, but it is okay, I know that it is not finished because it is a two-discipline competition and tomorrow we have Lead. I have been training a lot in Lead, so I’m excited for tomorrow.

“In Boulder you never know what you are going to find on the wall, while it is easier to train endurance for Lead. The boulders today were really fun, I am really happy about being here, I was not nervous because I know I have done all the work, now I am just going to enjoy and give a good fight.

“It is supposed to be like World Cup, because it is a Boulder competition, you have five minutes, but I think that the atmosphere is different, it is kind of an Olympic event, the Olympic spirit is around, which is very nice. What is different is the points system, it is weird to see four boulders in a qualification round, but the rest is similar to a regular World Cup.”

16/04 – MEN’S BOULDER & LEAD QUALIFICATION: BOULDER

Nicolai UZNIK (AUT), ninth with 64.5 points:

“It felt good to finally start the competition, it has been a long time preparing and thinking about it, so it is really good to finally get started. It was quite okay, I had a good start in the first two boulders, got close in the third, so the result is quite good for me. With Lead coming tomorrow, I think I can do another good performance.

“I was a bit more nervous than usually, especially the last few days, but once it started, I felt calmer and more confident again, I had weird feelings coming into this competition, because here you are not necessarily fighting for the top spot, for a win, you just want to qualify. It was hard to get this mentality out of my head and focus on my performance and my climbing. It is not easy, and I’m probably not the only one who felt that way.”