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USA Climbing capped its strong showing at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile with three more Olympic qualifications. On October 21, speed climber Piper Kelly won the discipline and earned her spot at the Olympics. Over the next two days, Sam Watson won men’s speed climbing and Jesse Grupper took first in the bouldering and lead combined to also qualify. Finally, on October 24, Natalia Grossman topped the podium in women’s bouldering and lead, punching her ticket to the Games.
[Also Read: American Speed Climber Piper Kelly Punches Ticket to Olympics]
Sam Watson, a 17-year-old climber from Southlake, Texas, faced fellow countryman Noah Bataschi in the speed climbing finals, coming out on top with a time of 5.37 seconds. After climbing the standard speed route for the first time at age 13, Watson knew he had found his niche. “I love the process of training and competing for speed … It’s just a small margin of error. [I love] the process of having this tangible thing that’s the same every time and slowly getting better and better at it,” Watson says. After bursting onto the world stage in 2021, Watson quickly found success, winning his first World Cup, in Edinburgh, in 2022 and setting the American speed record in 2023. As far as his reaction to his Olympic berth, seeing his family made it all real. “I hugged my mom so hard with my hand that I pinched a nerve in my left forearm. I was crying, it was a big emotional moment,” Watson says.
In the men’s boulder and lead combined event, US climbers swept the podium. Zach Galla took third, Sean Bailey took second, and 27-year-old Jesse Grupper won with a score 20 points ahead—a shocking comeback after being 15 points back following the bouldering portion. Grupper was able to overcome the deficit with his strong performance on lead, his specialty. “I knew that I was already coming from behind. I had this underdog mentality … I had to do whatever it took,” Grupper says. “That mentality helped me push up the wall. I approached every move like this was the one that mattered.” The climber had taken a break from competitive climbing to pursue a career in engineering, only returning to competition a year-and-a-half ago. “I took that risk and I’m still reflecting on how insane it is that I was able to pull off this weekend,” Grupper adds. “It’s slowly sinking in, but still feels pretty unreal.” In Paris, Grupper will compete alongside Colin Duffy, who qualified at the World Championships in August.
Natalia Grossman garnered an Olympic berth after taking the crown in the women’s boulder and lead combined. The 22-year-old Salt Lake City-based climber earned 172.4 points, while teammates Brooke Raboutou and Anastasia Sanders placed second and fourth with 165.4 and 115.1 points, respectively. After the bouldering portion, Grossman held nearly a 15 point advantage; despite a strong performance from Raboutou in lead, Grossman maintained her edge for the gold. Following a disappointing World Championships in Bern, Grossman reevaluated her training and approach to climbing. “I cut my training in half. And I just focused on a lot more things besides climbing. And so in this case, less was more for me,” she says. Grossman attributes her success in Santiago to her mindset, “One day at a time, one boulder at a time, one move at a time. After a really good semi-final round, I felt more confident and I felt like myself … There was nothing left to lose and I was just able to give it everything I had,” she says.
The quota for women’s speed and men’s lead and bouldering combined is full, however there are spots left to take for men’s speed and women’s lead and bouldering. Other USA climbing athletes will have a final opportunity to qualify at the IOC Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai and Budapest in 2024, where they must finish in the top 10.