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Toby Roberts
View on WikipediaToby Roberts (born 15 March 2005) is a British rock climber who specialises in competition climbing and outdoor sport climbing. He is the youngest British climber to redpoint a 9a (5.14d)-graded sport climbing route. He is the 2024 Olympic champion in the combined boulder and lead discipline in sport climbing and the 2024 World Cup champion in both lead and combined.
Key Information
Early life and education
[edit]Roberts comes from Elstead, Surrey, the son of Tristian and Marina Roberts.[4]
Roberts attended Edgeborough School, an independent coeducational day preparatory school in Frensham (a village near Farnham) in Surrey, where he was introduced to climbing in 2013,[2] followed by King Edward's School, an independent boarding and day school in Wormley (a village near Witley), also in Surrey.[3]
Climbing career
[edit]Rock climbing
[edit]In 2015, at only ten years of age, Roberts redpointed the historic 8a (5.13b) graded British sport climbing route, Raindogs, at Malham Cove in North Yorkshire.[5] In 2020, aged 15, Roberts became the youngest British climber to climb a 9a (5.14d) graded sport route when he redpointed Steve McClure's Rainshadow, also at Malham Cove.[5] In 2021, Roberts became the 12th climber to redpoint Ben Moon's historic sport route, Hubble, at Raven Tor (the world's first 8c+-graded route).[6][7]
Competition climbing
[edit]Roberts first started competing in international youth competition climbing events in 2019. In 2022, Roberts began his transition towards the international senior competition circuit, winning a bronze medal in lead climbing at the IFSC Climbing World Cup in Edinburgh in September 2022.
In May 2023, Roberts won his first World Cup medal in bouldering with a third-place finish in Salt Lake City. He went on to win his first World Cup gold medal in bouldering with a victory in Brixen in June 2023 followed by his first World Cup gold medal in lead climbing with a victory in Chamonix in July 2023, becoming the first British climber to win a gold medal in both the bouldering and lead climbing disciplines.[8][9] In October 2023, he became the first male British climber–and the second British climber after Shauna Coxsey–to secure a spot in the Olympics for climbing by winning the 2023 European Qualifier in Laval.[10][11]
At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Roberts won a gold medal in the combined bouldering and lead climbing event, becoming the first British climber to win an Olympic medal related to climbing since members of the 1922 British Mount Everest expedition in 1924.[12][13] Subsequently, he finished first overall in the 2024 Lead World Cup series[14] and first overall in the 2024 Lead rankings and Combined rankings.[15]
Roberts was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2026 New Year Honours for services to sport climbing.[16][17]
Rankings
[edit]IFSC Climbing World Cup
[edit]| Discipline | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boulder | 4 | 5 | 12 | |
| Lead | 20 | 5 | 1 | 8 |
| Combined | 1 |
IFSC Climbing World Championships
[edit]Youth
[edit]| Discipline | 2022 Youth A |
|---|---|
| Boulder | 2 |
| Lead | 2 |
Senior
[edit]| Discipline | 2023 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Boulder | 19 | 17 |
| Lead | 9 | 25 |
| Boulder & Lead | 5 | - |
Number of medals at the IFSC Climbing World Cup
[edit]Lead
[edit]| Season[18] | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2023 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2024 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| 2025 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Total | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
Bouldering
[edit]| Season[18] | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2024 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2025 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
Number of medals at the Summer Olympics
[edit]Notable ascents
[edit]Redpointed routes
[edit]9a+ (5.15a):
- Gancho Perfecto – Margalef (Spain) – 2024. Months after winning his Olympic gold medal, Roberts repeated the popular Chris Sharma route, marking his hardest send to date.
9a (5.14d):
- Batman – Malham Cove (United Kingdom) – 2021. Became the youngest British climber to redpoint a 9a/+-graded route at age 16.[6]
- Rainshadow – Malham Cove (United Kingdom) – 2020. Became the youngest British climber to redpoint a 9a-graded route at age 15.[6]
8c+ (5.14c):
Other:
- Revelations 8b (5.13d) – Raven Tor (United Kingdom) – October 2016. Became the youngest British climber to redpoint an 8b-graded route at age 11 by repeating Jerry Moffatt's historic sport climbing route.[19]
- Raindogs 8a (5.13b) – Malham Cove (United Kingdom) – October 2015. Became the youngest British climber to redpoint an 8a-graded route at age 10 by repeating the historic sport climbing route.[5][20]
References
[edit]
- ^ "Sport Climbing ROBERTS Toby". European Championships Munich 2022. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ^ a b "Toby climbs his way to the top". Farnham Herald. 27 July 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ a b "Climbing Feat". King Edward's School, Witley. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
- ^ Peddy, Chris (3 April 2024). "Paris 2024: Team GB's first male Olympic sport climber Toby Roberts has sights on gold". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ a b c Sterling, Sarah (9 December 2020). "Toby Roberts becomes youngest Brit to climb 9a". BMC. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Toby Roberts repeats Hubble at Raven Tor in England". PlanetMountain.com. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ a b "Toby Roberts is Strongest Brit You Probably Haven't Heard Of". Gripped.com. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ "Britain's teenage sensation Toby Roberts". Retrieved 1 November 2023.
- ^ "Gold for Roberts at Lead World Cup Chamonix". services.thebmc.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-09-17.
- ^ "British teenager Roberts seals historic Olympic place". BBC Sport. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ Berry, Nathalie (29 October 2023). "Toby Roberts Qualifies for Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Laval". UK Climbing Magazine. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ "Teenager Roberts wins climbing gold for Team GB". BBC Sport. 9 August 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ "Team GB teenager Toby Roberts secures climbing gold at Paris Olympics". Sky News. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
- ^ Pardy, Aaron (2024-10-11). "Olympic Gold Medalist Sends 5.15a in Spain". Gripped Magazine. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
- ^ "Official website of the International Federation of Sport Climbing". www.ifsc-climbing.org. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
- ^ "No. 64940". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2025. p. N23.
- ^ "Torvill & Dean and Wiegman recognised in New Year Honours". BBC. 29 December 2025. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
- ^ a b "Toby Roberts". International Federation of Sport Climbing. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
- ^ Berry, Nathalie (1 November 2016). "Revelations 8b by 11 year-old Toby Roberts". UK Climbing Magazine. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
- ^ Berry, Nathalie (27 October 2015). "Youngest Ascent of Raindogs 8a for 10 year-old Toby Roberts". UK Climbing Magazine. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
