Utah’s Nathaniel Coleman Barely Makes Olympic Climbing Final
Aug 3, 2021, 9:20 AM
TOKYO, JAPAN - AUGUST 03: Nathaniel Coleman of The United States of America during the Sport Climbing Men's Combined, Lead Qualification on day eleven of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Aomi Urban Sports Park on August 03, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
(Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah’s Nathaniel Coleman impressed during the Men’s Combined qualification of Sports Climbing at the Tokyo Olympics and will move on to the finals.
The qualifying round for Men’s Combined climbing took place at Aomi Urban Sports Park on Tuesday, August 3.
During the event’s Olympic debut, the Murray native put on an impressive performance.
Climbing makes its Olympic debut here in Tokyo tonight! @USAClimbing is based in #SaltLakeCity and has four climbers competing in Tokyo. Here's a preview story I did with Nathaniel Coleman recently. He's from from Murray. @KSL5TV @kslsports https://t.co/303Ojgc5MT
— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) August 2, 2021
The official rules of the qualifications for Men’s Combined are:
“Athletes ranked 1-8 in the combined ranking after Speed, Bouldering and Lead Qualification qualify for the Final; the remainder are eliminated.
First Climb
In the first round, Coleman squared off against Alexander Megos of Germany.
In Lane A or the left side of the wall, Coleman posted a time of 6.51 seconds.
Megos climbed to the top of the wall in Lane B in 7.47 seconds.
The result put Coleman in eighth place after the opening run.
Second Climb
In his second heat, Coleman raced against Megos again.
This time in Lane B, Coleman recorded a time of 6.52 seconds.
Megos climbed up Lane A in 9.89 seconds.
Following the second climb, Coleman found himself in 10th place out of 20 individuals.
After 1st round of men’s speed climbing qualifying, @USAClimbing Colin Duffy is in 4th, Nathaniel Coleman in 8th. They get another round after a break. @KSL5TV @kslsports
— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) August 3, 2021
After an hour break, Coleman and the other climbers moved to the Bouldering portion of the event.
Coleman recorded the following performance during Bouldering:
Boulder 1 – z1
Boulder 2 – n/a
Boulder 3 – T4z3
Boulder 4 – z2
Results – 1T3z 4 6
Attempts to Top – 4
Attempts to Zone – 6
2,463 days.
Collectively, our amazing Team of four has been waiting 2,463 days since they qualified for the Olympic Games.
The wait is over.
Brooke, Colin, Kyra and Nathaniel, have fun and enjoy your moment!
We ❤️ you!
Photos courtesy of @ifsclimbing. pic.twitter.com/NcXHBbZH1Z
— USA Climbing (@USAClimbing) August 3, 2021
Lead Climbing
Coleman was in 11th place heading into the lead climbing round but a fifth-place finish in the lead event was enough to advance Coleman to the climbing finals.
He worked hard for that fifth-place finish after he struggled through the bouldering event, which is normally his specialty.
The Olympic climbing finals are on Thursday, August 5 beginning at 2:30 a.m. MDT.
