This past week, 16 to 18 December, saw some of Uganda and South Africa’s best competition climbers battling it out in lead, boulder and speed at the International Federation of Sport Climbing’s 2021 Africa Continental Championships (ACC).
The competition kicked off with speed climbing on Thursday, 16 December, hosted at CityROCK Johannesburg. The women’s round saw just three athletes competing, with Lauren Mukheibir taking first place with a final time of 16.67 seconds. The men’s round had eight male climbers fighting for victory; Olympian Christopher Cosser took gold with a final time of 7.32 seconds.
Next up was bouldering, hosted at Friends and Allies on Friday 17 December. A total of 23 competitors, 15 men and 8 women, lined up to test their power and technique against the setters. Lauren Mukheibir once again claimed gold for the women. The men’s round saw an interesting turn of events as boulder four was not counted in the final scores due to a competitor performing a downward dyno, which is prohibited by IFSC rules. As such, the men were judged on the first three boulders, with Mel Janse van Rensburg bagging first place.
The excitement wrapped up with the lead climbing event on Saturday 18 December at the Climbing Barn in Pretoria. As with the boulder round, lead saw 15 men and 8 women competing. The women’s gold was once again claimed by Lauren Mukheibir, making her the undisputed female champion of the competition. The men’s final route – complete with a dynamic start – offered some nail-biting moments, with Mel Janse van Rensburg fighting his way to gold once again and becoming the male champion.
This competition acted as the qualifying event for the World Games in Birmingham, USA on the 14-16th July 2022, so we’ll get to see our athletes in action once again on the international stage next year.
