Garlick takes gold in Curno

A strong start to the 2024 season was had by the GB Climbing team at the first IFSC Youth European Cup of the season in Curno, Italy.

It was a golden weekend for Great Britain’s Lucy Garlick. The 17-year-old clinched her first gold medal in her international career in the U18F event. After finishing the qualification round in third place, flashing problems one, two, four, and five, and reaching the zones on 3 and 6, she moved into the final round in a strong position. After a steady start, finishing boulder one in two attempts, she went on to flash the final three problems, leading her to GB Climbing’s first gold medal of the 2024 season. The final of the U18F competition also saw Connie Bridgens compete, finishing in 8th place. In the U18M competition, Sam Hammond took 7th position after flashing the final two problems of the competition.

The U20M category saw Jamie Jenkins head into the final after finishing in 7th place in the qualification round, confidently reaching the zone on all problems. Jenkins improved his result in the finals, finishing in 6th position. 

Emma Edwards had an outstanding round in the qualifications in the U20F competition, flashing every problem and finishing in first position ahead of Spain’s Iziar Martínez Almendros. In the finals, Edwards dropped to 5th position. The U20F competition saw only three athletes from France, Spain, and Slovakia flash one problem, which was the final boulder.

The team was supported by Michelle Forrest, Emma Bird, Oz Fry, and Jamie Vardy. 

The next European Youth Cup will be in Soure on the 19-21 April. The IFSC World Cup series gets underway in Keqiao, China with a team of 6 athletes competing in the Boulder event, read more here.