Going For Gold. 5.

Meet Toby Roberts, climber, the last of our Brit athletes looking for medals in Paris net month.

When climbing made its Tokyo 2020 debut, Surrey’s Toby Roberts was too young to compete. But that didn’t stop the 16-year-old from sticking to a seven-year plan – hatched by his 12-year-old self – targeting the 2024 Games.

Roberts is now 19 and continues to collect medals and record-breaking rock climbs alongside dad Tristan.

During his breakout senior year in 2023, he placed third in a Lead (roped climbing) World Cup in Edinburgh. ‘The Terminator’ then won gold in a Boulder World Cup in Italy. Securing the win during the closing seconds he told journalists “It was a fairy- tale ending” at the time. This having all arrived, he said, before his first legal pint of beer.

Rising expectations would catch up with the young pretender, Roberts failing at the first opportunity to qualify for Paris in ‘Boulder and Lead’ combined. He placed fifth in the world championships in August, missed the podium, and felt “pretty gutted” by all accounts. His disappointment existing as a clear reflection on how high he had set the bar just months before.

When the World Cup returned to France in October 2023, only the winner could qualify for the games. Roberts did so before he had even finished the final route to the top of the temporary bouldering wall in Chamonix.

Weeks later, again in Italy, the then 18-year-old won his first Lead World Cup. Becoming the first Brit to win gold in two disciplines.

Already appearing on the BBC’s Great British Menu, whisperings of a medal of any colour are beginning to take traction. For him, “the aim is to win gold, I’m not just here to climb”.