Team USA Struggles In Men’s Sport Climbing Competition
Aug 5, 2024, 4:10 AM | Updated: 4:23 am
PARIS, FRANCE - AUGUST 05: Jesse Grupper of Team United States climbs during the Men's Boulder & Lead Semifinal on day ten of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue on August 05, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
PARIS, France – A challenging series of bouldering walls came back to haunt Americans Colin Duffy and Jesse Grupper as both climbers finished outside the top eight—the top eight climbers advance.
The Paris 2024 Olympics men’s sport climbing boulder and lead semifinals were held on Monday, August 5.
RELATED: Keep up the Olympic medal count here.
Game(s) faces from speed practice.
All rounds of Sport Climbing at @paris2024 are streaming on @nbcolympics and @peacock, starting August 5 📺
📸 Jan Virt@teamusa | @ifsclimbing | @paris2024 pic.twitter.com/vjS1Sj5plh
— USA Climbing (@USAClimbing) August 4, 2024
Grupper got off to a rough start with zero points in his first climb, and it didn’t get much better. He finished with 18.9 points, failing to qualify for the final. He is 18th out of 20 climbers.
Duffy had a promising start, gathering more than nine points on each of the first three walls. A 4.8 on the fourth wall dropped Duffy to 11th.
About Colin Duffy & Jesse Grupper
Colin Duffy is a 20-year-old climber from Broomfield, Colorado, by way of the University of Colorado. He was the youngest member of the USA Climbing team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, finishing seventh.
Duffy won a silver in Bouldering & Lead Combined at the 2023 World Championships.
RELATED: Park City’s Grant Fisher Says Utah Training Helped Win Bronze
Originally from Upper Montclair, New Jersey, Jesse Grupper has been competing in climbing events since he was nine. The 27-year-old Grupper graduated from Tufts University with a degree in mechanical engineering.
Grupper qualified for the 2024 Paris Games by winning gold in the boulder and lead competition at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
RELATED STORIES
Follow The 2024 Summer Olympics With KSL Sports
The 2024 Paris Olympics occurs Friday, July 26, through Sunday, August 11. The Paris Games comprises 329 events across 19 days, with 754 competitions and ceremonies for over 10,000 athletes.
Brian Preece is a sports.ksl.com insider covering the Utah State Aggies, Locals in MLB, and Salt Lake Bees. Follow Brian’s Bees, Beehive baseball, and Aggie athletics coverage here.
Find KSL Sports coverage of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics here.
