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On Saturday, October 21, Piper Kelly (24) took first in the Pan-American Games in Santiago, Chile, thus securing her ticket to the 2024 Paris Games. She will compete alongside fellow teammate Emma Hunt, who received her own ticket to the Games after placing second in the Bern World Championships this past August.
“I had a really great training block leading up to the Pan-Am Games,” said Kelly. “I actually moved to Utah to train for this about six weeks ago. The training was going really, really well, so I knew I could do it. But speed climbing has a very low margin of error–I knew it still was not going to be easy. I’m just really excited to have gotten it done and performed.”
Kelly’s winning race occurred in the semifinal round against teammate Sophia Curcio, who slipped early in the race. Kelly clocked a 7.69 and, since the final race was against Hunt, was automatically awarded the Olympic invitation. In the race for gold, Hunt false-started by a painfully thin margin—just one-hundredth of a second off the threshold. Even with the win secured, Kelly still set a new personal best—7.52 seconds. Ecuador’s Andrea Rojas took bronze after beating Curcio.
“It was such a good comp,” Kelly said in an interview with the IFSC. “I set my personal best in competition. I can’t wait for Paris.”
It wasn’t Kelly’s first Pan-American win; she also took first in 2018 in Guayaquil, Ecuador. At the Bern World Championships, she placed 26th.
Preceding the speed rounds were men’s lead and bouldering qualifiers. Americans Jesse Grupper and Sean Bailey took first and second, respectively. Canada’s Sean McColl and Oscar Baudrand placed third and fourth, and American Zach Galla placed fifth. Men’s lead and bouldering finals will take place Monday, October 23.
Tomorrow, men’s speed begins, and representing the US are Noah Bratschi, John Brosler, and Samuel Watson. The qualification round for women’s bouldering and lead will also kick off, featuring American climbers Natalia Grossman, Brooke Raboutou, Anastasia Sanders.
Stay tuned for results and updates.