2023 SANCF Youth Selections | Results

This past weekend Gauteng Climbing put on one heck of a show with the 2023 SANCF Youth Selections! Athletes from around the country came together at CityROCK Johannesburg from 17 to 20 March to compete in speed, lead and bouldering to earn a spot on the team heading through to the 2023 IFSC Youth World Championships in Seoul, South Korea later this year.

It was a gruelling four days of competition, with speed hosted on Friday the 17th, lead on Saturday the 18th, and bouldering on Sunday the 19th, plus a special combined final on Monday the 20th which challenged the top climbers from the previous three days to tackle the Olympic climbing format. For the first time, the Olympic scoring system was used in South Africa to better prepare the athletes for the new competition format for the Paris 2024 Games, which includes a speed climbing event and a combined boulder-and-lead event (compared to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics which required climbers to compete in all three disciplines).

All in all, it was an absolutely stellar few days, with competitors and spectators from Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal gathering together to bring the psych and enjoy some lekker climbing. Congratulations to all the athletes for giving it their all, shoutout to all the organisers, coaches and event volunteers for all the hard work, and thank you to everyone who joined us and made it such a smashing success. Read on for some stats from the competition, the final results and podium pictures…

SPEED, LEAD & BOULDER SELECTIONS SCORES

COMBINED FINAL SCORES

COMPETITION STATISTICS:

We’re looking forward to seeing you all at the next competition!