Olympic debutant on the hunt for spot in climbing final after getting a taste of Olympic competition
A first-time Olympian hopes she can seal a spot in the climbing final and soak up the crowd in the process
By Paul Martin in Paris
Erin McNiece relished her step into the unknown as she made her Olympic sport climbing bow in Paris.
The 20-year-old from Rodmersham finished tenth in her boulder semi-final, with lead to follow on Thursday – the scores are then combined and the top eight advance to Saturday’s final.
The crowds at the specially designed venue in Le Bourget have created a raucous atmosphere over the opening two days of competition and McNiece lapped up the noise.
“It was very different to anything I’ve ever done before,” she said.
“I’ve prepared and braced myself for it, but it still wasn’t enough. Everything about it was insane. I’ve been trying to take it all in.
“The atmosphere is pretty crazy. The crowd is very, very loud, and very reactive, so it made the atmosphere really cool. It definitely felt different to the World Cups.”
The bouldering stage of boulder and lead is made up of four walls, with climbers given five minutes to navigate each one.
Points are determined by progress up or along the wall, with five points for reaching the first zone, 10 for the second and 25 for the top – 0.1 points are deducted for every unsuccessful attempt to reach the next scoring position.
McNiece shone on the middle two walls, scoring 24.7 and 24.9, helping her to a total of 59.6.
She changed her footwear before scaling her final wall amid the searing Parisian heat and hopes to learn the lessons from her first day of competition as she looks ahead to the rest of the week.
“The first boulder was probably the hardest one in the round for me,” added McNiece, one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – which has been vital on her pathway to the Paris 2024 Games.
“It was unnerving to have that as the first one. It was really, really hard.
“The footholds on the first one, the bit I was struggling with, were really small. My shoes were a bit hot because it’s quite humid, they were getting a bit squishy, so I changed my left shoe.
“I would like to make the final, that’s a goal that I’m trying not to think about too much, but I just want to do my best and enjoy it.”
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