Looking back at last
weekend I can hardly believe what happened. As I sit here writing this struggling
to keep my eyes open, it’s amazing to think of all the unbelievable achievements
that were accomplished for GB climbing.
So Thursday, travelling to
Laval (France) for the last round of the European Youth Bouldering Cup. We all
met up at Manchester airport raring to go and excited about the weekend. After
a short flight, a few delays at the car hire and a hell of a lot of Paris
traffic, we finally made it to our hotel. It was quite late by this time and we
all needed some sleep but for some reason I wasn’t able to get any… As I sat
outside the hotel at half 3 in the morning I had time to think. I knew this was
going to be my last ever competition competing as a junior and I really wanted
to put in my all.
The next day I had a
chance to catch up on some sleep and relax a little before the opening ceremony
in the evening. It did feel quite cool to go up on stage holding our nations
flag along with all the other countries. The speeches did drag on a bit but
maybe if I had learned some French before I came I may have understood at least
some of it. Afterwards I did my usual team talk with everyone and also got to
meet one of the GB para-climbers.
Competition day, today was
the day it all happened for youth A and junior categories. I watched the Youth
A’s in the morning and tried to help out as I could. Everyone did so well! And it
really got me pumped up for my qualification round in the afternoon.
It finally came time for
me to get on the wall. I hadn’t climbed properly since the Monday before so I
wasn’t quite sure how I was going to feel once I got started. I had a good warm-up
and was ready to go. The problems were really cool and I really enjoyed it. I
managed to top 7 of the 8 boulders qualifying me at 5th into the
final.
I normally suffer from bad
cramps during the finals of competitions so I got a massage straight after
qualifying. This really helped and I didn’t get any cramp whilst on the wall.
We were in isolation for
ages so I went to sleep. After waking myself up and having another good warm-up
we all went out for observation. The crowd was massive and the atmosphere was
incredible. The problems looked awesome and I couldn’t wait to get on them.
The
first boulder was and off-vert, technical and slopey creation. I came out and
somehow managed to flash it! After fist pumping at the top and shouting “COME
ON!” I was feeling great going back into isolation. The second was a crimpy
start into a dyno. It took me 3 goes to stick the dyno but it felt great when I
topped it. The final boulder looked crazy with these huge pink blobs leading to
the top. On my first attempt I got past the first section with relative ease
but then came unstuck at the slap for the penultimate hold. I knew what I had
to do and started up the problem once more. I paused just before the move I had
previously dropped and said to myself in my head. “Last ever junior problem. Make
it count.” I stuck the move with a wild helicopter of my feet and matched the
last hold with a massive smile on my face.
As
I walked out to watch the last competitor on the final boulder, at this point I
knew I had second place and wasn’t expecting anything more. I was really happy
with this and I had maintained my world ranking of 2nd and bumped my European ranking
up to 2nd as well. The only way I could come 1st was for
the last climber to not top the final boulder. I was standing with the team at
this point who had been giving me the best support all through the final and
were by far the loudest team there. After he had dropped the problem 3 times I actually
started to think I might actually win this. He pulled on for his last attempt
just before the buzzer sounded so was allowed to complete his go but was not successful.
The whole team including me jumped up and roared! I felt a bit bad that we were
all cheering when he fell off but I couldn’t believe it! I had actually won!
This
was the greatest moment in my life so far…
To
be honest, it still hasn’t sunk in and I was getting congratulations all
weekend. It felt amazing!
The
next day was the turn of the youth B’s and I was just blown away with how well
the whole team worked together during qualifications. Normally I go around coaching
during qualification and helping out as much as I can but today was different.
I sat back and watched the team do this without any instruction. They just
wanted everyone to climb their best!
Both
Pete and William made finals and did amazing. Will even made podium! I loved
watching them climb in the finals, proving that the Brits are a force to be
reckoned with.
The Team has really bonded more than ever on
this trip; it feels like I have become part of a 2nd family. Without
them cheering me on there is no way I could have done what I did. I am really
sad to be leaving the team and I’m sure the next team captain will be just as
good if not better than I was. Thank you for all your support guys. (And of course
the card and cake)
Now…
Into the seniors…
Photos - Credit: Brieuc Deléage, Stasa Gejo, Céline Bellanger
