2023 Pan American Speed Climbing: Kelly and Watson Win
2023 Pan American Speed Climbing Results
The Road to the Olympics has landed in the beautiful capital of Chile, Santiago, where the 2023 Pan American Games are taking place. Out of the 38 different sports taking place during this event, competitive sport climbing is making its debut this year. After a weekend of bouldering, lead, and speed climbing, the 2023 Pan American speed climbing results are in with huge victories for the USA climbing team.
Women’s Speed Climbing
America’s Piper Kelly took to the top of the podium to receive her golden ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics. The 2023 Pan American Games are a leg on the road to the 2024 Olympics that offers a chance for climbers that place first place in their respective discipline to recieve a spot at the Olympic games.
Kelly has been dedicating herself to the pursuit of joining the Olympic games and it all the effort has finally pulled off. She showed her skill and determination at the 2023 Pan American speed climbing event as she consecutively hit times under 8 seconds. Her final run against her fellow teammate ended with her best time of 7.52.
” I am going to the Olympics!!! Still don’t know what to say, but I know I wouldn’t be here without all of my support…. See you in Paris!”
Piper Kelly, Instagram
Coming in second place after a false start in the final round, is America’s Emma Hunt. She was overjoyed to congratulate Kelly on her success and showed excitement to have a member of her team joining her at the 2024 Olympic Games. Hunt received her golden ticket to Paris when she ranked second at the 2023 World Championships in Bern, Switzerland.
Joining Kelly and Hunt on the podium was Ecuador’s Andrea Rojas who beat out America’s Sophia Curcio who fell during the final round. Andrea Rojas pulled off a final run of 7.59, which ultimately secured her the bronze medal at this years 2023 Pan American speed climbing event.
Men’s Speed Climbing
A big win for the USA climbing team this weekend as two more American climbers finished on the podium at the 2023 Pan American speed climbing event. Coming in first place in the men’s speed was America’s Samuel Watson who over took America’s Noah Bratschi in the final round with a time of 5.37.
After a disappointing run at the 2023 World Championships with a ranking of 71, Watson was back on the walll to take his chance again to gain a ticket to the 2024 Olympics. It was an emotional win for Watson as he celebrated with his father after realizing he had just took home the gold that would take him to the Olympics.
“Still processing what happened-I’m so excited to accomplish this and I can’t thank enough everyone that made this possible…. Work starts now – we go for gold!”
Samuel Watson, Instagram
The small final of the 2023 Pan American speed climbing competition ended with a close race between Ecuador’s Carlos Granja and Canada’s Ethan Flynn-Pitcher. By just 0.07 seconds, Granja pulled up ahead of Flynn-Pitcher which secured him the bronze medal at the 2023 Pan American speed climbing event.
Although athletes have received golden tickets to the 2024 Games, the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective NOC teams at the Olympic Games. Athletes’ participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024. To learn more about the Road to Paris, check it out here.
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For more information pertaining to the 2023 Pan American speed climbing results, location, videos, images, etc., please visit the 2023 Pan American Games event page. For more information on upcoming events, visit the 2023 Sport Climbing Events page.
